A Love Story
by Peppermint Smile
Summary: Ryan Evans, now twenty one, is discovered to have a four year old daughter. Who's the mother who deserted him so long ago? Ryelsi. No, Kelsi's not the mother. Troyella. Copyright 2007 Peppermint Smile
1. Chapter 1

Sharpay Evans ran her finger around the edge of her water glass impatiently, and with her other hand drummed her manicured nails against the table. Her twin brother was yet to be late to their meetings, and she did not want him to start the tradition now.

She was not disappointed. A waiter guided a young man with honey-blonde hair in a simple brown suit jacket over to the table, and left him with a menu. Sharpay removed her sunglasses with a flourish.

"What took you so long?" she asked crisply, straitening her hair. "One would think you had gotten lost on the subway"

"I was delayed," he responded shortly, running his eye over the menu. "Lillian had a parent-teacher conference." Sharpay merely rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, Ryan; you don't have to go to **every** single meeting. She's in preschool, for crying out loud." He merely shrugged and kept his attention on the menu. "And why _are _you so concerned about the silly menu; not like you can afford anything on it." She gave him a calculating glance. "To think that you once would be ashamed to wear black shoes and a brown jacket. I'm surprised that your taste has lowered to such a degree"

Ryan smacked his menu on the table. "Oh come off it, Shar," he snapped. "You know this is the best I can do these days…what with…things being how they are…" He embarrassingly hid his face with the list of desserts. Sharpay sighed once again, and ceased her taunting.

"Ryan," she said gently, her voice softening to a degree, "you are only twenty-one and the father of a lively four-year-old daughter. You must expect me to worry _somewhat"_

"Actually, I just wish you would stop worrying all together; I do plenty enough for the both of us." She laughed softly, but then became serious.

"Has she…contacted you yet?" she asked delicately.

"Did you honestly believe she would have…after four years?" he sighed.

"Ryan, you know I am willing to help pay for the fees-"

"Just as you know I am not going to accept your help. This is my life—my baby girl—and I plan to control it"

"You're not doing a terribly good job of it now," Sharpay grumbled, and immediately regretted her words. "Ryan, I didn't mean it that way"

"I know, I know. But the thing is you **do** mean it. It's just…I don't really want to think about it right now…"

"Well someone has to, and it might as well be me. Ry, you need someone to help you out! Lillian needs a mother!"

"And you think I don't know that?" Ryan asked brokenly, his eyes suddenly becoming foggy. "You think I don't notice how confused she gets when she sees all her little friend's _mommies_ walking them into preschool…and all she has is a father who hasn't even stepped inside a college, and is still searching for a job!"

"Speaking of which, how did your job interview go today?"

"Not so good. They want someone with _experience"_

"To sell pianos? Good God, what do they picture; Ray Charles?" Ryan rewarded her with a small smile. "Have they called you back yet?"

"Not yet. I hope to at least survive a week"

Silence ensued. "You want me to order you a cup of coffee or something?" the sister offered at last.

"You know I won't be able to pay you back"

"I know." Ryan sighed a shook his head.

"No thanks, I might as well be going. I want to fit in some other job interviews seeing as how this one probably won't work out." Sharpay nodded, and her lean twin stood to his feet.

"Give Lilly my love. And Ry…" he turned to face her, "that little angel is lucky to have such a good dad." His eyes twinkled, and he dug through his pockets.

"I almost forgot—Chelsea took this picture of Lilly the other day, and I made a copy for you." Sharpay took the picture from him. A sweet, short petite girl smiled an all-too-familiar baby-cheeked smile up at her, and her short blonde braids flopped happily by her ears.

"She looks just like you." Ryan beamed proudly down at the picture. "But…she does have her mother's eyes." His beam dwindled, and he heaved a sigh.

"Yes…I know. Such beautiful eyes…" With a quick side hug, Ryan Evans was gone. Sharpay stared after him for a moment, and then glanced down at the picture once more. Dark chocolate eyes sparkled on the small girl's childish features. Shaking her head free of these thoughts, the vice president of design in the New York Fashion Company sipped her water and opened her portfolio, briefing herself on the day ahead of her.



Kelsi Neilson waved cheerfully goodbye to her students, and neatly stacked her sheet music. Mrs. Shepherd bustled over by her side.

"Words cannot express how much you are appreciated, my dear," the elderly woman said, her eyes shining with love. Kelsi laughed; a happy, tinkling sound.

"It is **I** who should be thanking you; I absolutely _adore_ working with children, and it is so good to have found a job outside of college"

"I sleep in peace at night knowing that my students are being well trained," Mrs. Shepherd said proudly, puffing out her chest. Kelsi just blushed modestly, her hazel eyes twinkling with the compliments. "If only you had someone to work alongside you—then I would really be able to relax"

The composer resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. "Mrs. Shepherd, I am _perfectly_ able to function without a man by my side. I have done ever since my high school days. Trust me; I am **completely** satisfied to work alone." The old music teacher shook her head.

"One day, you will find your mate; don't give up, deary. He will pop up when you least expect it, so be sure to keep your mind wide open." Giving in, Kelsi agreed that she would, and carried her boxes for her out to the tiny car.

As she was waving goodbye to the tiny BMW, something caught her eye. Among the cluster of pampering mothers gathering their children, a young man stood awkwardly out of place. He could not have been above her age, and was sitting patiently on a bench; waiting. Kelsi began to make her way over to him when a little girl with hair identical to the young man's came running pell-mell out into the school courtyard. The man stood up and swept the youngster into his strong arms, tickling her playfully. She squealed with delight and flung her arms around his neck. After rubbing their noses together, the pair continued on their way through the parking lot.

Kelsi recognized the child; Lillian Evans, one of the most musical children in her class. "That guy must be her older brother," she thought, and jumped to the occasion of meeting family of Lilly.

"Excuse me," she called out loudly, running over to them, and the older brother turned in obedient response to her call. Now at close range, Kelsi's breath caught in her throat. It was _Ryan Evans_, the very same drama king she had once known back at old East High. He certainly had changed. He had the appearance of one who had lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time, and his simple clothes made him almost unrecognizable. He still had a hat perched on his golden locks, but it no longer looked like something out of a catalog; the newsboys cap would not have looked foreign on a Target rack. His entire outfit spoke of cheap shabbiness, but his pale blue eyes still held the same unbounded optimism they had four or five years ago. But all innocence was gone.

"Kelsi!" he greeted her, his eyebrows rising in surprise. Kelsi mentally added 'lower voice' to her list of changes. "Whatever are you doing here?"

"She is my music teacher," Lillian chimed in, grinning broadly and revealing a large gap in between her two front teeth.

"I had no idea you worked here," Ryan said in genuine astonishment, and freed a hand so he could shake Kelsi's. "When did you start?"

"Only a few weeks ago," Kelsi answered. "So; you running errands for your parents or something?" His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I mean, did your parents send you to pick up your little sister from preschool?" He swallowed awkwardly, but before he could speak, Lilly piped up.

"Daddy, what's she talking about? You don't have a little sister—only a twin, right Daddy?"

"Yes sweetie, that's right; only Aunt Sharpay"

"Only Aunt Sharpay; no other," Lilly affirmed, and looked brightly at Kelsi as if the whole matter was settled.

"She…she's _yours_?" his old classmate gasped, staggering backwards.

"Yes," Ryan responded, his cheeks burning.

"I…I…" But Kelsi could not form any more words than that. Speechless and stupefied, she stumbled backwards before breaking into a run back to the school building. Lillian cocked her head.

"Why did she run away, Daddy?" Ryan stared after her, and didn't answer. "Daddy?"

He jolted out of his revere. "Why did she run away? It's because…it's because she has figured out about the treasure buried in the living room couch!"

"Oh no! She knows about it too?!"

"Yes, and we had better hurry home and dig it up first! We can't let Ms. Kelsi get the treasure first! Come on, Captain Lillian, we must away to our ship!"

"Prepare the ship!" she cried joyously, and hung on tight as Ryan dashed over to their car and quickly buckled her in. He stopped at the driver's side; his gaze still lingering on the vacant preschool building.

"Come on Daddy; we have to get there first!" Ryan nodded, climbed inside their only means of transportation, and zoomed out onto the highway; leaving Westbrook Preschool far behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello all! Welcome to another random Ryan-centered story! This story came about when Louisa got really bored and wondered what Ryan would be like as a Dad. Enjoy _

_**crushie**__- thank you so much! I always feel so loved with all the comments you always give me_

_**HorsesRMyFriends**__- I'm glad you liked it. This is my first father/daughter story type of thing_

_**deathcab4lor- **__I just picture Ryan as being the adorable kind of doting, loving, overprotective dad. I love young father :)_

_**Bal8rokstar**__- I'm glad you can't wait, haha!_

_PLEASE R&R!!!!!!!!!!_

**Chapter Two**

Tabitha flicked the ashes of her cigarette, and skillfully breathed exhaled a large cloud of smoke. Hearing heavy footfalls in the hallway, she tied the robe around her tighter and casually opened her front door. But of course, it was Ryan and Lilly; Lilly was currently sitting atop her father's shoulders, calling out orders such as, "Lower the gangplank! Weight the anchor! All to the starboard side! Let loose the sails!" She snorted, and smoke filled the air once again.

"On another wild sea adventure, Ryan?" she smirked. He merely smiled.

"Off to dig up our buried treasure, to be exact"

Tabitha took in the large bags under his eyes, and how Ryan's legs almost seemed to drag along the floor. She jerked her head at him meaningfully. Ryan caught her glance, and set Lillian carefully on the ground.

"Go scout out the territory Captain; I'll join with you in a minute." Lilly saluted him, took the right key from his keychain, and scampered off to their apartment door. Once the pipsqueak was out of hearing range, their neighbor asked,

"How'd the job interview go?" A slump of the shoulders confirmed her suspicion. Tabitha ran a finger through her bold, purple curls, and switched her weight from left hip to right. "Tell you what; whenever all the treasure is dug up, send Lilly on over. I'll cook her dinner tonight." When he opened his mouth in protest, she simply put a long finger (with a claw-like purple nail at the end) against his lips. "I know you don't have the money for it. Just let me do it as a friend; I'm not expecting any return"

"I'm just sick of taking in so much charity," Ryan yawned.

"You're just plain sick," Tabitha corrected, and placed a cool hand against his forehead.

"I'm not sick," Ryan insisted, brushing her hand away. "Just a little tired that's all"

"When was the last time you had a good five hours of sleep?" He shrugged, and she skillfully exhaled rings of smoke through her mouth. "If you want to serve your own kid better, get some sleep. I am going to sentence you to a peaceful night tonight, buster"

Ryan glared at her, but realized all resistance was futile. Ryan thanked her softly and continued on his way to his one-story apartment. The middle-aged woman checked her watch, and sauntered back inside her living area, turning off her soaps to look around her pantry for something to tempt a preschooler.

The former dancer leaned his small, exhausted frame against the doorway. He slowly turned his head to survey his domain. It was definitely "lived in," as Sharpay put it. The paint was peeling, and the couch no longer contained any stuffing (it had been through many raids by pirates). Unkempt boxes were piled in corners, and you could hardly walk two steps without stepping on a toy. The wall was crammed with pictures, and the lighting was slightly dimmed—several light bulbs were missing. Not much, but it was home. _Their_ home. Ryan closed his eyes for the briefest of seconds.

"Daddy, what's wrong? You sleepy?" Ryan forced his eyelids back open, and smiled down at his daughter.

"A little, sweetheart. But what's that you got there?" Her face shining, Lillian proudly held up a brand new stuffed animal.

"I found a kitty! It was hiding among the buried treasure!"

"No way!" Ryan squatted down to her level. "Is it a boy or a girl?" Lilly pondered her answer carefully.

"A girl. Mr. Teddy needs a partner"

"And what's her name?"

"Well, what's my mommy's name?"

The question caught Ryan completely off guard. "You want to name the kitty after your mommy?" Lilly nodded seriously.

"Yep. All the other kids at school talk about their mommies." There was an awkward pause, but only Ryan noticed it.

"Do you…**want** a mommy?" he asked cautiously.

"Naw," Lilly responded immediately, still inspecting her kitty. "It would ruin our fun, wouldn't it?"

"I guess so…" he said unsurely. "But this is fun, isn't it? Just the two of us?"

Lilly's braids bobbed. "Yes sir!"

"Just the two of us—a pirate and a high-born lady!"

"I wanna be the pirate!" Lilly proclaimed.

"But I can't be the lady," Ryan pointed out. "So I'll have to be the pirate this time." And he swung the giggling girl over his shoulder. "Arr, I've got you now, missy!"

"Oh, someone save me!" she cried, obviously not wanting to be saved.

"I'm gonna make you walk the plank!" Ryan growled, now tucking her under his arm; ignoring her tiny fists beating against his side. Once inside her bedroom, he dropped (very cautiously dropped) her on her bed. "Now get dressed for dinner! You're gonna eat with the notorious Lady Tabitha tonight!"

Ten minutes and two Band-Aids later, Tabitha had a knock on her door. When it opened, a short girl in a pleated blue dress with flowers in her hands grinned toothily up at the full-grown woman.

"What's this?" Tabitha laughed as Lilly shoved the flowers underneath her neighbor's nose.

"My daddy said to give these to you as a thanks." Tabitha rolled her eyes.

"I'm guessing you're hungry. Common in; you just happened to interrupt me making cheesy baked potatoes!"

"YUMMY!" Lilly bounded inside, hiking up her dress so she could run more efficiently.

Two hours later, Tabitha put her finger to her lips as Lilly opened the door to her family's apartment. Picking up the preschooler and resting her on her hip, Tabitha tip-toed into the master bedroom. Ryan lay sprawled shirtless across the bed, sheets tangled all around him. Lillian wiggled in Tabitha's arms, causing the woman to set her down. Lilly crawled over to her sleeping father and snuggled inside his arms. Shaking her head, Tabitha straightened out the sheets and tugged them over the small family.

"G'night," she whispered. Lilly smiled, and then buried her face against Ryan's bare chest.

Tabitha turned back to look at them from the doorway. "They're almost the perfect picture of a family," she thought. "But they're still missing something…or someone." She locked the door to the residence on her way out.



Ryan coughed, straightened his tie, tipped his stool as far back behind the counter as it could go, and took in his surroundings. A graveyard would seem like a rock concert in the music supply store. Ryan's fingers twitched compulsively from the lack of noise, and drummed against the leg.

After forty-five minutes of complete silence and fourteen head-over-heel falls off the stool, Ryan decided to "test the equipment." He picked up two brand-new, shiny drumsticks and twirled them around his fingers in one hand. Sauntering casually over to a drum set, he hit one of the symbols ever so lightly. A boyish grin broke across his face. It was too tempting. A small drum roll wouldn't hurt anyone. And hopefully neither would a drum roll in fortissimo dynamics.

Only when people passing by began to stare at him through the glass windows did Ryan consider cutting his testing short. He lightly jumped off the sound system he had been playing electric guitar on, and moving away from the guitar selections, he settled for the keyboards.

His fingers paused inches away from the plastic keys. A quiet voice inside his head happily sang out all too familiar lyrics practiced an endless amount of times to a similar keyboard.

_I've never had someone_

_Who knows me like you do_

_The way you do_

He smiled to himself. Ryan had almost forgotten all about "Twinkle Towne." In his mind, he could easily recreate the East High hallways and see him and his twin swaggering through everyone in their crazy, stylish, flamboyant outfits. He laughed aloud when he thought of his jazz squares and one-handed cartwheels. Curious, he stood up and found an open portion of carpet. Taking a deep breath, he completed a one-handed cartwheel easier than when he was a sophomore. Laughing with adrenaline and memories, Ryan performed cartwheels all the way over to the grand pianos.

Realizing what a fool he must look like, the old drama king bent over the instrument. It was as if all the energy left his body. He suddenly calmed down, and recalled another, not so familiar, and not so well-rehearsed scene back in high school. He stared blankly at the ivory in front of him for several minutes before realizing he was doing so. Sighing, he picked out an old favorite and began to sing to the audience of reeds, brass, wood, and plastic.

_My gift is my song_

_And this one's for you_

_And you can tell everybody_

_That this is your song_

_It may be quite simple but_

_Now that it's done_

_I hope you don't mind_

_I hope you don't mind_

_That I put down in words_

_How wonderful life is_

_Now you're in the world…_

"Excuse me," a small, elderly voice said from the shadows. The figure might have bellowed at him the way Ryan reacted. Embarrassed beyond measure, Ryan tripped over the bench and was sent sprawling on the ground. He quickly looked around to try and find out where his jacket. He crossed his fingers that the boss wouldn't come in anytime soon—name tag on the ground, shirt untucked, shoes lying off in a corner, the situation wasn't looking terribly professional. He was fired for sure. Ryan settled for hiding his lower half behind a piano.

"How may I be of service?" Ryan said, the required greeting refusing to show itself. The tall old lady laughed gently.

"Actually, I was wondering if you could do me a favor. I'm Mrs. Shepherd, the retired music teacher at Westbrook Preschool." Ryan's eyebrows raised, but other than that gave no response. "I happened to overhear your singing and piano playing a few second ago," Ryan's burned with humiliation, "and I think you would make a terrific assistant music teacher. The girl who has just taken over might be a bit shaky on her own, I think; she could use an assistant"

Ryan felt almost like a codfish as his mouth hung agape. "You…would just…_give_ me the job?" She nodded buoyantly.

"Of course you would still have to fill out all the paperwork, but that really isn't a big deal. Please say yes!"

"I…I'll have to quit this job first," Ryan stuttered, running out of excuses.

The elderly woman laughed. "My dear boy, I was able to hear your guitar playing across the street. There will be no need for you to quit"



Kelsi shot a paper basket at the trashcan and missed terribly. Sighing, she carefully took the dozen different files off her lap and walked over to efficiently throw away the mound of missed shots surrounding the basket. Grumbling, she moved it directly next to the desk so she wouldn't have to stand up again.

A knock sounded on the door. "Come in." Mrs. Shepherd bowed her tall stature so her head would not bump against the doorframe, but someone far shorter followed in her wake. "Ryan, what are you doing here?"

"I offered him the job as your assistant!" Mrs. Shepherd said jubilantly, patting an ill at ease actor on the shoulder.

"But Mrs. Shepherd, I've told you countless times that I am perfectly fine by myself! I don't need an assistant; I much prefer working alone! Thanks for your time, Ryan, but you will not be needed"

The gray-haired guitarist caught the retreating father by his coattails. "Now Kelsi, be reasonable. Do you have anything _personal_ against Ryan Evans working with you?"

Kelsi squirmed. There wasn't really anything wrong with Ryan; he himself had never been mean to her in high school. He could be a bit snooty at times, but maybe that was because he was so oblivious—and because of Sharpay. He had never said anything particularly rude to her, but they had never been chum buddies. And then she remembered their last meeting. How he must despise her for running away like that when finding out about…Lilly. Things would be so uncomfortable between them, it would never work.

"Kelsi, you haven't answered my question. Do you have anything _personal _against working with Ryan?" She glanced at the guy in question. He was gazing at her with a puzzled look, as if he as well wanted to know the answer. His pale blue eyes bore into her mind. With all of her resistance crumbling, Ms. Neilson sighed.

"No. I do not have anything personal against Ryan." Her peer relaxed with relief.

"Do you doubt his musical abilities?"

"Oh no!" She had heard enough performances by the twin to know that he was an expert at what he did.

"Then what is the problem?"

"I wish I knew," Kelsi thought to herself. "Nothing, I suppose," she responded aloud, accepting her defeat.

"Excellent! Then it's settled. I would appreciate it if you give him the proper forms to fill out. And then you two can spend the rest of this gray day chatting about your plans for the second semester. Ryan—I mean Mr. Evans—would you mind if I talked with Kelsi alone for a minute?"

"Not at all," he answered hurriedly, and quickly exited the room. Mrs. Shepherd took Kelsi's hand in hers.

"My dear, I would not leave this position so happily if I did not know that I was leaving you in safe hands"

"But Mrs. Shepherd, things are going to be _so awkward-_"

"Nonsense. I whole-heartedly believe that this is for the best. And **outside** of the business world…I think you two should get to know each other better"

"But-"

"No more buts." Kelsi smiled, and the 70-year-old music teacher took one last, long look around the room.

"I will miss this place…so many memories." Kelsi nodded understandingly. "Ah well, I must be going." After kissing her pupil on the forehead, Mrs. Shepherd departed from the preschool. Ryan walked bashfully back in and sat Indian-style next to Kelsi on the carpet.

"You both certainly are attached to each other"

"I've known that lady for a long time. It's only natural we became fast friends." A pause. "Look, Ryan, about the other day-"

"Forget about it," he cut her off. "It's only natural for you to act that way"

"I just had no idea…" she stopped herself this time. "Anyways, it's in the past. Where should we start first?"

"How about cleaning up this mess?" Ryan suggested, a cocky grin flickering across his face. "And then we can begin planning, I suppose"

"I'm sick of organizing files!" she complained, throwing down a pile on the table. "It's old people work!"

"You certainly have changed from the neat freak in high school," he laughed.

Kelsi merely rolled her eyes. "And you certainly have changed from the stuck-up pretty-boy who almost never talked to me"

"I'm talking to you now, aren't I?" he asked defensively.

"And these files look like a pigsty, don't they?" After staring at each other for three minutes, Ryan gave in first and burst out laughing, Kelsi following suit a moment later.

"Let's just forget about old difference, 'k?" Kelsi proposed, holding out a hand. Ryan shook it.

"Agreed. But we still need to put these files somewhere"

"I told you, I don't want to organize another manila folder ever again!"

"I didn't say anything about organizing. But we might get in trouble if we just leave the room messy. Let's at least _pretend_ we can keep a classroom clean." Kelsi giggled.

"Alright. Here, you take this stack, and I'll take this"

Ryan backed up away from the desk, but was not planning for the trashcan placed directly behind his leg. He tripped, falling onto his back. Kelsi, not planning for the trashcan either, stumbled over his feet and came toppling down on top of him. Laughing at their disgrace, Ryan pushed himself up on his elbows, and Kelsi brushed the hair out of her face. Their eyes met.

"Oh god," Kelsi's mind screamed. Kelsi's heart pounded out of her chest, consciously aware of how close their bodies were. He seemed so warm, and his face just kept on getting closer. "Oh god…"


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey guys! Well, I've decided to dig a bit deeper into Ryan's past and his own emotional feelings in this chapter. Thank you for all of the comments! I feel so loved!!! _

–_sniffle- Anyways, you all are wondering why I have changed the title. When I first start writing stories, I don't know myself how the story is going to end up. And then if I get some good ideas, I actually sit down and write a plot (if I write a plot for a story, I almost always finish it). And as I was writing this story's plot I realized something:: this story isn't so much about Ryan's love as a father; it's love in general. A.K.A, I change the title to _A Love Story. _Hope you all enjoy the new chapter! __**R&R PLEASE!!!**_

**Chapter Three**

The second before their noses touched, Ryan jerked away and abruptly stood up.

"Sorry…I'm claustrophobic," he apologized, kneeling down to recollect the spilled sheets.

"Since when?" Kelsi asked, amused, kneeling beside him.

"Since…" Ryan's voice faded to a halt. How was he supposed to explain something he himself didn't understand? How had it happened? He hadn't been to stable or thinking too clearly at the time…

_17-year-old Ryan Evans swayed on the spot, an empty glass held in his limp hand. He had no idea why he had come to Chelsea's party other than the fact that Sharpay wanted him to be there. He had had several glasses of what everyone told him was just fruit punch—but it didn't __**feel**__ like fruit punch._

_His eyes very clouded, Ryan tried to walk in a straight line over to the couch to sack out, but the path kept on weaving back and forth. It was as if he no longer had any control over his own body. He accidentally bumped into a very pretty girl; the same girl who had, in fact, urged him to drink glass after glass after glass of the "fruit punch."_

"_Sery," he managed to mumble, and was about to go on his way when the girl yanked him back._

"_Don't be," she whispered seductively in his ear. "Come with me." She dragged the befuddled and bewildered Ryan into an empty room and locked the door behind them. She gently took the cup out of his hand and threw it in a nearby trashcan._

"_Huh?" He barely got the word out before he lost all personal space he had ever owned. She was all over him; her mouth slammed against his own, her hands running over his entire body, his shirt suddenly gone, __her__ shirt suddenly gone, and his world turned into a blur when she threw him on the bed._

"Since…awhile back." Avoiding Kelsi's questioning glance, Ryan straightened the files in his hands. "Where in the closet should we stash these?"

With awkward topic behind them, Kelsi soon discovered that is was dreadfully easy to talk to Ryan about anything at all (other than how Lillian had come about). They renewed high school jokes and merely chuckled at old indifferences.

"You were scared of me and Sharpay?"

"Sharpay and **I**. And yes, I was, believe it or not"

"I can completely understand and relate to your fear of Shar; but why me?"

"It's not that you were scary or menacing like Sharpay…it's just you were so distant. Nobody talked to you much, you never really socialized outside of your twin; I guess it was because we all knew so little of you that it was kind of freaky"

"I didn't know quietness inspired terror," Ryan teased lightly.

Kelsi blushed. "Why did I blush?" she inwardly scolded herself. "Stupid Kelsi; way to give your feelings away!" Ryan blinked; clueless as to why Kelsi was blushing.

After briefly reviewing their plans for the semester, the two teachers agreed to go to a nearby Starbucks. They chatted over their drinks, discussing music, art, movies, books, and just having a great time. They discovered similar music tastes (despite how to sing "What I've Been Looking For"), and related tales of seeing various Broadway plays.

All too soon for Kelsi, Ryan was checking his cell phone clock and realized how late it was getting. Apologizing for talking so much ("Don't; it was fun!"), Ryan exited the shop, leaving a speechless, overjoyed, bubbling, glowing, radiating, ecstatic Kelsi Neilson in his wake. The moment the door clicked shut, Kelsi yanked out her own phone and called one of the few girls she **knew** she could trust.

"Hey Gabbi? Yah, you will never guess who Mrs. Shepherd picked to be my assistant…"

Not twenty minutes later, Mrs. Richards walked sedately over to the door and opened it to reveal a college-aged boy swamped in a black "hoodie" several sizes to big for him reading DRAMA in big, bold, white letters.

"Hey," he greeted her. "I came to pick up Lilly?"

"Oh sure, hold on one minute. Come on inside, the girls are upstairs watching Nickelodeon." Ryan stepped over the threshold of the three-story house.

"So, I'm assuming you're Lilly's older brother?" He opened his mouth, but evidently Mrs. Richards though it was a rhetorical question. "Yes, yes; Daphne absolutely loves playing with your little sister. Lilly is such a sweet girl"

"Thank you. But I'm not-"

"Could you perhaps give me your home phone number and address before you leave?" Ryan dug through his cargo pant pockets, looking for a scrap of paper or a pen, but Mrs. Richards was far ahead of him. She drew out an elegant pen and a small directory.

"Let me see...L-i-l-l-y…E-v-a-n-s…and what's your phone number…uhuh…and your address?"

"4675 Kempwood Boulevard PO Box #7923"

The pen paused, and Ryan painfully noted a trace of distain on the mother's proud face. But she finished writing down the information before two giggling girls barreled down the spiral staircase.

"DADDY!" Lilly squealed, sailing into his waiting arms. A look of terror consumed Mrs. Richard's face.

"Squirt!" Ryan hugged the tiny child tight, kissing her almost bleach-blonde head. "Thank you so much for letting Lillian come over, Mrs. Richards. It seems as though she had a great time; we'll have to do this again. Goodbye!" He hastily closed the door on the mortified mother of his daughter's best friend.

"I wanna go play again!" Lilly squeaked while bouncing happily in her father's supporting arms. Ryan glanced back at the tall house.

"I'm afraid you will only be seeing Daphne at school for awhile"

"But why? I was a good girl!" Lilly cried.

"I know, sweetie; it's not your fault. It's mine. It's all my fault"

---

Ryan barely caught the huge bowl of icing as Lilly jumped on his leg.

"Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me," she sang loudly, skipping all around the kitchen.

"The birthday girl will not have a birthday cake if she doesn't stop bothering her poor father," Ryan laughed. Lilly squeaked, and scampered out of the room. Shaking his head and smiling, he continued to stir the homemade chocolate icing.

The phone rang. "At this rate, I'll never get the cake done," Ryan grumbled to himself. Balancing the bowl on his hip and licking some stray icing off his fingers, he grabbed the phone. "Evans' Residence"

"Hello Ryan; it's Kelsi"

"Hey Kelsi. What's up?"

"I was just calling to with Lillian a happy birthday. May I speak to her?"

"Please do. She's bouncing off the walls, and I'm trying to bake a cake." He called in his daughter and handed her the phone. Ten minutes later, Lillian, with one delicate hand covering the phone receiver, tugged on her dad's jean pant leg.

"Daddy, didn't you say I could invite one friend with us to Fiesta Texas this afternoon?" she whispered loudly.

"Yes"

"Can we take Ms. Kelsi with us?"

"Uh…erm…I guess so," Ryan answered unsurely. "You really want to take a _teacher_ with you on your birthday trip to San Antonio?"

"She isn't just any teacher!" Lilly retorted. "She's really fun!"

Ryan laughed. "Alright, she can come"

"Yay!" Lilly took her hand off the receiver.

"Ms. Kelsi, you wanna come with me and my daddy to Fiesta Texas?" Another loud sound of jubilation affirmed that _Ms. Kelsi_ would be joining them on their birthday excursion.

Kelsi arrived promptly on time at the Evan's apartment; cookies and a carefully wrapped present in hand. When the appealing wrapping paper was torn off, the gift revealed to hold a lap harp, complete with a practice book. "This way you can have an instrument of your own to play on free choice days"

"And what do you say, Captain?"

"Thank you!" Lilly cradled the lap harp in her arms as she ran over to a window seat to try it out. Ryan smiled at Kelsi; his crystal eyes sending her all the thanks he felt.

Once the plate of delectable chocolate chip cookies was completely demolished, everyone climbed into the Evan's small car. As the vehicle had no CD player and their source of tapes was soon over, most of the extensive ride was spent singing. Kelsi was not only impressed by how many songs Lilly knew at her tender age but by how much Ryan's voice had improved. He had never had a bad voice to begin with, but, somehow, it had become even purer and steadier. Every note gave her tingles—especially the lower ones, which he could now reach with ease.

It was hard to keep Lilly in one place the moment the amusement park came into view; she had never been to one before. She squirmed in her seat, and dragged Ryan by him arm with all her might to speed up their progress. Armed with a backpack containing money, snacks, an emergency aid kit, all of their swimming suits, towels, sunscreen, and two good books, Ryan shoved his sunglasses back on his forehead.

"I have a feeling this is going to be a long day," he sighed, making Kelsi giggle.

Since it was noon, the hottest part of the day, the group decided to hit the water park first. When at last they emerged from the bathrooms, Kelsi was in a cute, light green tankini with jean short shorts, Lilly in a flowery one-piece, and Ryan in blank swim trunks and a ripped up, sleeveless shirt covering his torso. He openly gazed at Kelsi.

"What are you staring at?" she asked, her cheeks afire with embarrassment as she self-consciously ran a finger along her shorts.

"Nothing…it's just you look…very nice," Ryan said lamely, coughing slightly. "Now Lilly, where do you want to go first?"

No matter how hard she tried, Kelsi found it extremely hard to not check Ryan out. **Especially **after they actually reached the water slides. Lilly insisted that both Ryan and Kelsi slide down with her, which usually ended in them all splashing down into the pool together in a mangled heap. The young music teacher gave up all attempts at avoiding physical touch with Ryan; Lilly was a determined birthday girl, and wanted to spend the entire day with her two favorite people. She couldn't see why Kelsi seemed so timid at first to climb on behind Ryan and follow his suit by sticking her legs out to the side.

After two hours of intense water rides, Ryan guided them over to a small play pool so he and Kelsi could have a rest without having to worry about Lilly drowning. Their sunscreen had worn off over the time, and Ryan casually asked Kelsi to reapply his sunscreen. Yet again, shy, modest Kelsi had to bite her lip when Ryan pulled off his shirt and displayed a lovely six-pack. Her hand almost trembled as she squirted the cold sunscreen into her palm and rubbed it all over his back and neck.

"Mmh," Ryan mumbled into his towel.

"What?"

"Your hands are cold"

"Get over it," she laughed, and continued to lather on the lotion.

"Feels more like a backrub than a sunscreen application," he said after awhile.

"Would you stop the commentary please?" Kelsi laughed, lightly pinching him. "Just be grateful that I'm doing your back at all." She got off of his chair. "My turn now"

He raised his head. "I beg your pardon?" She grinned mischievously.

"You made me lather your back; so you have to return the favor." She lay down expectantly her beach chair. Gulping, Ryan grabbed the sunscreen, sat on her chair by her back, and squeezed out the goop. Unknown to Ryan, goosebumps covered the composer's arms as his strong hands massaged her back. All of a sudden, she squeaked.

"What's the matter?" Ryan asked concernedly.

"That tickles!" she giggled madly. A wicked look spread across Mr. Evans' face.

"What…this does?" he asked, wiggling her fingers into her sides. She giggled again.

"Yes, there!"

"Surely this doesn't tickle!" he laughed, and tickled her again. She squirmed, trying to push him away.

"Stop it!" she gasped, trying to catch her breath from laughing so hard. He laughed louder, and did not cease. Older couples chuckled to themselves as they viewed the thrashing girl in a tankini and the boy in black swim trunks in a desperate tickle fight. In the wading pool, Lilly elbowed her new friends.

"You see that?" she proudly told them. "My daddy's in love with Ms. Kelsi. I wonder if they'll kiss…then they'll just _have_ to get married!"

"Ryan?" Kelsi asked quietly on the way back to the car. Lilly was fast asleep in Ryan's arms; the adventure had completely exhausted the tiny, now five-year-old birthday girl.

"How long have we been working together now; four months?"

"Three," he corrected.

"…Ryan?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for taking me with you guys. It was a lot of fun"

Ryan's smile would have melted butter. "No problem. It wouldn't have been nearly so much fun if you hadn't been here." Kelsi blushed prettily, and they didn't say another word the rest of the way to the car.

Ryan buckled the sleeping Lilly into her car seat and closed the door. Kelsi reached towards the door handle for shotgun, but the young man caught her hand. She looked curiously into his pale eyes. Taking her petite face in his cool hands, Ryan tipped Kelsi's face up with his thumb and kissed her soundly on the lips—his first real kiss in four years and Kelsi's first kiss ever.

Now, it has always been told that first kisses stink. But it was not so in Ryan and Kelsi's case. It started out very sweet and innocent, and then developed into much more. Before long, Kelsi had her arms wrapped around Ryan as he leaned against the car, _his_ arms around her waist. His tongue lightly brushed against hers; without realizing it, the kiss just became deeper and deeper. At last, they broke apart for air.

"…Wow," Kelsi breathed before attacking Ryan's irresistible lips again. She wished they could be like this forever; lip-locked in a deep kiss alone in the middle of a deserted parking lot.

---

Grumbling to himself about his horrible handwriting, Ryan tried to decipher his grocery list in the cereal isle of H-E-B. It had been a week since he had "made out" with Kelsi in the Fiesta Texas parking lot, and Lilly was now off at a friend's house (not Daphne's) so he could get some errands done. He was yet to tell her about how he felt about Kelsi; he was still figuring it out himself. Sighing, he pulled out a large box of Kix. He jumped when an all-too-familiar, pretty face appeared in place of the cereal.

"Gabriella!" Ryan stammered, dropping the box. Small yellow balls of yummy goodness rolled across the tile. Ignoring his surprise, she glanced at the label.

"Kix? Oh no, Mr. Evans. Kix is no breakfast for a little girl to eat." Ryan opened his mouth to protest, but to his bottomless horror Gabriella placed a gentle put strong hand on the back of his head and brought her warm lips against his. The cereal box he had recently picked up dropped out of his frozen hands. Unwillingly, though his brain screamed in protest, Ryan closed his eyes and let Gabbi kiss him; and kissed her fully back.

_So what did y'all think? Do I hate Gabriella M. or what, haha. I haven't written a love-sequence in such a long time, so I felt like adding in a bunch of good chic-flic material :) Tell me what you all think of Gabbi. Is she a double-crosser? Why do you think she kissed Ryan, knowing how Kelsi felt about him? Why did Ryan let her? What do you think is going to happen next? __**R&R PLEASE!**__ I need all the help I can get_


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you all for all of these comments! I REALLY appreciate it! I'm so proud of myself for spitting out chapter so fast, haha._

**Chapter Four**

It was Gabbi who pulled away first.

"I thought you had a girlfriend," she whispered, grinning. Ryan's eyes cracked open.

"I thought you had a boyfriend," he pointed out. "What are you doing here anyways?"

She shrugged, and bent down to help pick up the scattered Kix. "Buying groceries," she answered simply. "And helping **you** shop. I would suggest Raisin Bran for Lilly." Flushing deeply, Ryan hastily stuffed the ripped bag back into the box. "I don't need your advice"

"You don't?" Gabriella stated more than asked dryly, placing a box of Raisin Bran into the cart. The single father firmly put it back on the shelf.

"No, I don't. And I'd wish you'd just stay out of my life, thank you." He determinedly pushed his cart down the aisle, but Gabbi caught his arm.

"Of course you do." She pulled his down to her height, and leaned in so close that their noses brushed, and Ryan could feel her breath against his lips. His breath unconsciously caught in his throat.

Finally, Gabriella let go. "Mhm," she said softly, smiling winningly up at him. "I can see that you don't want me in your life." Ryan stopped her hand from placing the Raisin Bran back in the cart.

"Gabbi; what do you want?" he sighed. She only laughed—it gave him goose bumps.

"Why, I was just stopping by to say hi. And to let you know that your little girlfriend called me almost a week ago, telling me all about your incident in the parking lot." You could have fried an egg on Ryan's face. "I'm just reminded you, I suppose, of where you duties lie…to the girl who carried Lilly for _nine months_. Don't forget it; Lilly still needs a mother. And who better for the job than her real one? Does she even know my name, Ryan?" He gulped. "Just think about it, okay." Gabbi turned to leave, but stopped herself.

"I just want to see my baby girl again," she whispered sadly, her eyes slightly misty. Out of nowhere, she turned around and threw her arms about Ryan's neck, passionately kissing him on the lips. Caught off balance, he fell back into the cart and landed hard on his tailbone. He felt something hard shoved into his hands.

"Bye love," Gabbi whispered. "I love you…I really do." She pecked him on the lips one more time, and was gone in a whirl of brown. She left the wretched Ryan sprawled on the H-E-B floor in the cereal aisle; clutching a box of Raisin Bran.

---

Something was obviously wrong with Ryan. Kelsi was certain of it. He had been out of it all morning; running into walls, desks, and such. He had messed up playing the warm-ups for the first time all year! Kelsi was determined to find out the reason why, now that school was over, and Lilly had been picked up by some apartment neighbor (Tabitha).

"Ryan?" He jumped for what seemed like the millionth time that morning.

"Huh?"

"What's the matter?" she asked him gently, running her fingers through his hair—he loved it when she did that. But for some strange reason, he shuddered and pulled away from her.

"Nothing's the matter; I'm just tired"

"Come on, I know something's wrong. You'll feel a lot better if you tell me"

"No, I won't," Ryan answered grumpily, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I'd really rather not talk about it"

There was a long, awkward pause. "It's Lilly's mother, isn't it." Ryan turned sharply on his heel, his back to her. "Ryan…it's okay. I understand"

"**Like hell you understand!**" he burst out fiercely, his eyes suddenly blazing with constrained fury. "Like hell you have _any_ idea what I have gone through these past four years! You haven't scrimped and saved and worked your butt off to provide a healthy home for you little girl. You haven't worried yourself into hysteria that one day you won't come up with enough money to pay the rent and to feed a growing child, or that child services would come and take her away! You have no idea what it's like being a single parent!"

"But it's all your fault, you know!" Kelsi sobbed, trying to believe in what she had been taught ever since she was a little girl. She had been raised to believe this was all wrong! "It's you who climbed into that bad and-"

"I WAS DRUNK!" The force of his words made Kelsi's mouth drop open. "I went to a party, and once she had drugged me up enough, Lilly's future mom decided it would be funny to have 'fun' with innocent, unknowing Ryan Evans!" He shushed Kelsi, who had opened her mouth to speak. "Yes, I know it still should never have happened. I know 'sex before marriage' is a terrible sin. But to wish it hadn't happened would mean to wish Lilly had never happened. And I love Lilly more than life itself. I would not give her up now for the world." He breathed deeply. "Don't you get it? Out of a mistake came the best gift"

"So you have no regrets?" Kelsi hissed; her mind was still dreadfully confused. "None at all?"

Ryan paused. "I wish Lilly could have come into the world in a more honorable way…and that she could have a mother." Kelsi bit her lip, arguing with herself.

"Do you _want_ her mother back?" she asked at last.

"I…I don't know anymore," Ryan sighed.

"Even after all she's done to you, you still want her?!"

"Just keep out of this, Kelsi"

"**How can you be so undecided?!?!**" Kelsi shouted. "The answer stares you in the face every morning. How can you think even for a _moment_ about wanting Lilly's mother back?"

Ryan tried to think of something to say, but nothing came out. He sent Kelsi a tortured look and stormed out of the room.

"It's none of you damn business! Stay out of my life!"

It was then she realized why he could not answer; he himself did not know. His own feelings betrayed his mind.

Ryan slammed the door to his apartment shut, making the glasses on the shelf rattle. Swearing under his breath, he viciously kicked the torn-apart couch and punched a wall with his fist. Clutching his bleeding knuckles, Ryan slowly calmed down and wrapped them up with an ace bandage from the first-aid kit Tabitha had given them for Christmas.

After completing this task, he wandered aimlessly back into his bedroom. A thought struck him, and he dug through the trunk in the corner till he found it; his senior yearbook. He flipped over a few pages to the Senior Life section. And there it was, staring up at him from the pages. It was a black-and-white picture of Gabriella leaning up against him while sitting in between his legs. His arms were around her and his head rested lovingly against her. By it was a cursive note written in pink pen.

Ryan,

I love you more than you will ever know. This was the best year of my entire high school; dating you. You have been more than reasonable about our secret, and I appreciate that so much. I am going to miss you with all of my heart when I head off to college.

Love you tons,

Gabbi M.

Ryan's eyes blurred. He rapidly wiped his eyes. She really had loved him; not when it had first happened, but then they had really hit it off together. Senior year had been his favorite year of high school as well.

Tucked inside the pages was a picture of Gabriella in his DRAMA sweatshirt curled up against him; both fast asleep on Chad's humongous couch. Gabriella's hand was closed around one of his, and his other hand rested protectively on her shoulder.

Smiling, Ryan glanced up from the picture for a minute—but something else caught his eye. In a frame, perched on the top of his alarm clock, was another picture. This one was in front of "the Tornado" at Fiesta Texas. Lilly, Ryan, and Kelsi were armed with their giant, multi-person tube and grinning broadly at the camera. One of his arms was around Lilly, while the other hugged Kelsi around her shoulders.

Ryan glanced from the girl in the yearbook to the girl in the frame. His eyes burned with unshed tears, and at last twenty-one-year-old Ryan Evans did something he had not done in almost three years; he sobbed. He lay down his head on his pillow and bawled his eyes out—blubbering like a baby. His heart was torn in two, and he had no idea which way to turn for help. Logic reasoned that Kelsi was the obvious answer, but his heart pounded at the thought of Gabriella as well. Why did this have to be so hard?

He lay on his bed for almost an hour before he realized that he should be picking up Lilly from Tabitha's. Drying his eyes and drinking a glass of water, Ryan knocked on Tabitha's door.

Lilly bounded into her father's arms. "Sorry for being so late," he apologized, highly aware of Tabitha's worried glance at his red-rimmed eyes. "Did you have a good time, Captain?" he asked, sniffing loudly while wiping his eyes again. Why did he have to be so emotional?

"It was terrific!" Lilly began, and was soon born off in a detailed story of Ms. Tabitha and herself taking on robbers in the bathroom. Ryan listened as diligently as he could; making sure to hide the yearbook back in his trunk before Lilly entered the room.

After a long and vicious row with pillows, and an extended game of hide-and-seek, Ryan tucked Lillian into bed. Normally she curled up and went straight to sleep, but tonight Ryan's daughter sat bolt upright.

"Daddy?"

"Yes Princess?"

"Why are you and Ms. Kelsi mad at each other?" Ryan sought about for an answer.

'We disagreed about something," he finally settled on.

"Like we do sometimes?"

He laughed. "Yes; like we do"

"Then when are you going to make up?" Cause people who love each other always make up; right Daddy?" Ryan stared at her. _People who love each other_…where had she heard that phrase? And did it just apply to Kelsi…

"I…suppose so, sweetheart"

"'Cause you love Ms. Kesli; don't you Daddy?" Ryan didn't answer. "…Daddy?" At last he looked up into her chocolate brown eyes and smiled. Her eyes were so beautiful, and so familiar to him.

"Yes Lillian; I do love Ms. Kelsi"

"As much as you loved my mommy?" Had she been inside his brain??

"Yes," he responded painfully, running his hands through his shaggy hair. "I do"

"Then call up Ms. Kelsi right now!" Lilly concluded, folding her hands together above the covers solemnly.

"Don't you think it's getting late?"

"Call her up and apologize! I will never go to sleep until you call her!"

Ryan sighed, but laughed at the same time. "I see you inherited your mother's stubbornness." Lilly giggled. "Fine, fine; I'll call Ms. Kelsi. You promise to go straight to sleep?" Lilly bobbed her head and snuggled down into her blanket. Ryan kissed her on her forehead and bid her sweet dreams. He clicked off the lights on his way out and shut the door behind him.

The lonely man groaned to himself. "Come on, Ryan Evans; pull yourself together." He picked up the phone and dialed the Neilson home phone; Kelsi had told him awhile ago that she lived with her parents.

"Hello?"

"Hey, is Kelsi there?"

"Hold on just one minute"

"Hello?" Oh god, it was her.

"Hey; it's Ryan"

"Oh…hello Ryan." A stiff silence. "Look, about this morning; it _was_ none of my business-"

"Don't apologize. It's my fault—I shouldn't have taken my stress and indecisiveness and…I'm **very** sorry"

Kelsi didn't answer immediately. "It's okay; I'm sorry too. I guess I was just jealous…and afraid"

"Jealous of who? And afraid of what?"

"Jealous of _whom._ And I was jealous that Lilly's mother had held your affections…and afraid that she might come back and take you back." Ryan bit his lip.

"Hey, Kels; can I call you back?" She laughed slightly at the nickname.

"Sure. Just don't take too long." He nodded, only after he hung up realizing that she couldn't see him. He needed to make up his mind before talking to her about that certain subject.

Ryan walked out onto the small porch at the back of his apartment. Collapsing into a folding chair, he put his head in his hands and tried to make a decision.

He heard a knock on the wall next to him. "May I come in?" He looked up, and saw Tabitha grinning over the railing.

"If you really want to," he mumbled, putting his head back in his hands. Tabitha climbed over the iron railing and sat down next to Ryan.

"Tell me everything," she said gently stroking his head. Her motherly affection was enough to reduce him to tears again; he was on his last string.

"I don't know where to begin"

"The beginning is usually the best, dear," Tabitha suggested kindly. "Come; lie here on the bench and put your head in my lap. And then we can talk." Ryan obediently lay down and sighed. He hadn't put his head in someone's lap since high school.

"Well, it all started on day when Gabriella pulled me aside in class about six weeks after Chelsea's party…"

_And it comes out at last! Gabriella is Lilly's mother. You know, it's odd; I had really planned for Gabbi to be more of a jerk in this story, but I changed that without even realizing it. But now for questions. __**Who do you think Ryan will choose? Which one **__**should**__** he choose? Was he right to get mad at Kelsi? Do you agree with him about not wishing "it" had never happened? R&R!!**__ And keep posted for the next chapter; it's pretty much a bunch of high school flashbacks for Ryan he's telling the story to Tabitha…and I haven't even planned for her to be such a big character either! The people in my story had their own minds, I swear_


	5. Chapter 5

_Muahaha, I spit out another chapter! And sorry about the cut-off in the beginning of the previous chapter; I completely forgot to finish writing there. Aack, I'm so unorganized. Anyhoot, I had had most of this chapter written in my notebook (Algebra is soo boring), so all I had to do was type it in._

_**TheNinaBobo- H**aha, I'm glad you're getting into the story!_

_**VandyC- **Thanks for the compliment! Haha, you guys make my day when you comment :) luv yall!_

_**crushie- **It's kind of odd; I really hadn't planned for this story to be so deep about keeping kids and stuff...I'm always surprising myself, haha. Thanks for keeping up with all my stories!_

_**Ann- **I'm glad you can see the story; that's a sign that I'm doing good, haha. And the reason I had made Gabriella the mother when I first planned this story was so I could make Lilly's mom a complete JERK. I wasn't planning on making her more human, haha. But my real opinion of Gabriella will come out more as the story develops, I guess :) _

_Enjoy this nice little flashback chapter!_

_-------------------------------------_

**Chapter Five**

"_We need to talk." Ryan glanced up from Gabriella's note, and cocked his head at her. She just shook her head and concentrated on reading the book on her desk._

_Later, she pulled him into a spare classroom. "Ryan; do you remember anything from Chelsea's party about six weeks ago?" Ryan scratched his head._

"_Not really; it's very fuzzy"_

"_Do remember the bedroom?" His eyes widened._

"_Err…" Gabbi took his answer as an affirmation._

"_Well, I've not been feeling too good lately, so I went in and took some tests. __**Ryan; I'm pregnant**__. And it's yours!"_

_Ryan's head reeled. He had gotten Gabriella pregnant? And she…was carrying his child? It was too much. He passed out. Gabbi soon revived him with a few gentle slaps to the cheek._

"_After just one time?" he gaped, rubbing his aching head._

"_Do you never pay attention in sex ed?" Gabbi asked, laughing. Ryan grinned sheepishly._

"_I just never thought it would apply to someone like me"_

_Gabbi sighed. "Look, I've already broken up with Troy; but he doesn't know the real reason why. I refuse to get an abortion; I've having this child. Since we might be stuck together for awhile, let's try to get this to work, alright?"_

_Ryan slowly nodded. "Okay. Let's do it"_

"And we did pull it off. I went with her to all her hospital visits, and kept my eyes off of other girls for a very long time. Eventually—probably attributing to all the time we had spent together—we really hit it off and began to date"

"Didn't the other students get suspicious?"

"Gabbi switched to another school when her physical form began to change. But everybody knew by then that she and I were…well, pretty serious, I guess"

"So it wasn't just about the baby anymore?"

"Oh no. We ended up head-over-heels in love with each other. I can still remember the day Lilly came into the world…"

_Ten minutes into "Pride and Prejudice", Gabriella suddenly gasped._

"_What is it?" Ryan asked frantically._

"_The baby's coming"_

"_Now__?" Are you sure?"_

"_**Now**__," she groaned, her teeth clenched. Ryan grabbed her hand and they went as fast as they could (Gabbi couldn't really run at this point) to the car. Fifteen minutes later, Ryan rushed Gabriella into the hospital._

"_The baby has dilated only eight inches," the doctor told them. And we can't allow you to stay here until it has reached eight"_

"_Can you at least give us something to hold off the pain?" Ryan begged, looking nervously over at his wincing girlfriend._

"_Here; have her take this pill and she will sleep like a baby until morning. Then bring her back early tomorrow morning"_

_Ryan thanked him, and led Gabbi back out to the car. "Where are we going to stay for the night?" she asked him._

"_Is your house alright?" he asked. She nodded._

"_My parents won't mind, I'm sure." She gasped._

"_What's wrong?" Ryan immediately asked._

"_Just contractions," she sighed, gritting her teeth again. "They come about every five minutes now"_

"_Hold on until we get you home," he said nervously. "That way you can take the sleeping pill"_

_The pill did its job; Gabriella slept like a baby, but Ryan never closed an eye. Every movement from the bed he jumped to his feet, only to settle back down into a spare chair. Every groan, he glanced into her face, only to pace about the room again._

_And then it was morning. Another car ride to the hospital, and the doctors confirmed it; the baby was ready to come._

_Gabriella cried out in pain._

"_Ryan!" He was by her side in an instant, gripping her sweaty hand._

"_It's alright, Gabriella; I'm here. Remember the breathing we practiced?" She nodded, tears pouring down her face. "Breath in deeply, breath out, okay? You can do this." She nodded again, and inhaled and exhaled the proper way. The nurses poised at the end of the bed._

"_Ready, Gabbi?" Ryan asked. She squeezed his hand until it turned white. "Push!!"_

_After 30 hours of tears, cries, shrieks, and encouraging words, the process was over. The nurse brought the bawling, newborn baby right next to Gabriella._

"_It's a beautiful girl," she whispered, smiling as she placed the baby into her exhausted mother's arms. Gabbi's eyes shone with love as she gazed upon the brand new life in her arms. Then her gaze turned to Ryan._

"_It's gorgeous, Gabriella," he whispered, also crying. "Just gorgeous"_

_Gabriella motioned him closer. "I love you," she cried, kissing him soundly on the lips. He kissed her back, tears pouring freely down his face. They stared together at their precious baby girl; their hearts in their eyes. Ryan stroked Gabbi's perspired head._

"_Now it's time for you to sleep," he whispered, kissing her again on the lips. She nodded tiredly, and closed her eyes. The nurse picked up baby Lilly and glanced over at Ryan._

"_Would you like to hold her?" His eyes widened._

"_C-could I?" he stuttered, wiping his hands on his jeans. He had never held a baby before, and was afraid he would drop her. The nurse smiled understandingly, and held out the bundle. Ryan took his baby girl into his arms, and pulled back the covers. She squirmed inside her blanket; her itty-bitty thumb stuck firmly into her mouth. Ryan freed a hand and held the index finger right next to her; and his daughter's tiny fist closed tightly about it._

"_Welcome to the world, Lillian Gabriella Evans," he cried softly, his heart about to burst with love. He wondered how such a small person could ever hold so much love after five minutes of living._

"Is that how the story ends?"

"Sadly, no. I wish it would have; then Lilly would actually have a mother. But things always have a way of going bad right when life is great"

_Gabriella tugged Ryan into a spare room yet again. Presuming they were going to do what they usually did when in a spare room, Ryan took Gabbi's face in his hands, but she pushed him away._

"_I brought you here to discuss something"_

_He raised an eyebrow. "Serious stuff? _Now? _Come on Gabs, that's no fun"_

"_I'm not fooling around, Ryan." She took a big breath. "I have gotten a __**huge **__scholarship fund for Rice University-in Texas"_

"_Rice University? __**In Texas**__?" Ryan asked bewilderedly._

"_Yes; and they have a very good academic program and I really feel that this is my big chance to hit it big in what I'm best at"_

"_Being a hot nerd?" Gabriella giggled attractively, but brushed aside the jest._

"_But the one problem is, I would be in Texas; you would be here in Albuquerque, am I right?" He nodded._

"_Most likely"_

"_And living expenses in college dorms are really expensive"_

"_Probably"_

"_Then you see why you have to keep Lilly for me?"_

_Ryan's jaw dropped. "You mean, forever? But I thought we would keep on rotating every two weeks who got her, and then when we got married-"_

"_Ryan this is the __real world__; there's no way we can get married! At least, not for awhile." His eyes plainly said that he had no clue why this was so. "I've got four years—maybe more—of college ahead of me, and I really can't afford to have a little girl to look after! I don't want our mistake to mess up my future!" At last he nodded._

"_I see now why it won't work," he said quietly. "And of course I will look after Lillian; I wouldn't give her up for anything"_

"_And neither would I," Gabbi sighed. "I will send you a check every three weeks to help out; it's my child too, of course. And I'll call as often as I will. Once I get my degree…well, we'll see how things turn out. But Ryan—is it alright if I see other guys in college? I mean, we really came together for Lilly, right?"_

"_Was it just about Lilly, Gabbi?" Ryan asked, truly wanting to know. "I thought we had more than just mutual jobs to do"_

_Gabriella yanked him down to her height and kissed him passionately on the lips. "Ryan Evans, if you think I don't love you, you are sincerely wrong. But I've got to think what's best for me…and Lillian. She needs to have a steady home—can you give that to her?"_

_Ryan thought about it for a moment. "I hope so. But I will only agree to this if you promise to call." She laughed._

"_I don't think I could survive __**not**__ calling. So; are we agreed?"_

"_Yep." Ryan held out his hand for a handshake, but Gabbi had a different kind of agreement in mind. Not that Ryan terribly minded the second option, of course._

"Did she fulfill her promise with calling and sending the checks?"

"For three months, yes. And then—suddenly—she stopped calling. The money stopped coming. I had been depending on her financial help when I took the risk of buying an apartment; now that I was past eighteen, my parents had kicked me out, daughter and all. I've tried calling her cell phone several times, but gave it up after talking to the answering machine one too many times. Through Sharpay, however, I've found out some news. The main reason Gabriella stopped calling was because of two reasons; school and Troy Bolton"

"That one basketball captain back from your high school?"

"The same. Anyways, Gabbi and him hooked back up and have been dating since. I'm not sure why she stopped sending money; I know it's not because she's short on cash. I think it has something to do with the fact that she wanted to brush off all of her past and get a move on with Troy. The past included me, Lilly, and all her responsibilities as a mother." Ryan sighed and closed his eyes as Tabitha methodically stroked his head. "I can't say that I blame her for wanting to forget; I wish I could forget as easily as she seems to have"

"But she hasn't, Ryan. From what you told me about the grocery store meeting, she still has strings pulling her home"

"Kelsi said that there was no reason why I should want Lilly's mother back," Ryan said carefully. "But she just doesn't understand! I grew so close to Gabriella through all those months working together for our daughter…and for some reason I can't get rid of the nagging want of reliving that amazing relationship. Why is that so hard to understand?"

Tabitha didn't answer right away; she was staring out into the night sky. Ryan relaxed, and had almost dozed off before Tabitha spoke up again. "I think, dearest, what the problem is is that in your frame of mind, you are picturing the same Gabriella you loved back in high school. Kind, caring, going through the exact same problems as you, and altogether adorable." Ryan chuckled at the last addition. "But Ryan; what you must understand is that times have changed. Years of Troy's affection and being told that school is the number one priority has changed your daughter's mother. Her thoughts no longer dwell on the home life"

"But she told me-"

"Forget what she told you. I know that sounds harsh, but it's true. She doesn't care about you; Gabriella is just seeking love. That is how Lillian came about, remember?" He turned bright red, but smiled. "Having no father in her life, Gabbi is determined to find her source of male attention in other places. Do not mistake wanting for loving, Ryan." He didn't answer; it was Ryan's turn to stare at the stars. "I think that's enough deep discussion for you tonight, young man. You need to get your sleep, and I believe that you have a truly loving girl waiting by her phone waiting for some answers." Tabitha gently removed Ryan's head from her lap and climbed over the railing again. "And Ryan…" He looked up. "She needs to know. She has a _right _to know. Kelsi loves you. Do not let this opportunity escape you." Tabitha vanished into the shadows of the night.

Ryan Evans lay on the bench in his puny back porch until the clock struck twelve before he finally rose. Stretching his cramped muscles, he closed the sliding door and walked over to the phone. His hand paused before it touched the dials. He had a better idea.

Shrugging on a simple black jacket, Ryan locked the door to the apartment behind him. He knew Tabitha was awake and would make sure no harm came to his sleeping child. Much as he disliked the idea, Ryan was going to take a leaflet out of Troy Bolton's handbook and make a house call.

_This is probably a pointless question, but __**who do you think Ryan is going to make a house call on? Who will he choose/Will he take Tabitha's advice? Do you think Gabriella was right in her reasoning to leave Lilly with Ryan?**__ R&R please, as always!!_


	6. Chapter 6

_Sorry it took me so long to update! All last week I had tech rehearsals 4-10 at this college drama studio AGES away from my house after school, so I literally had no time to do even homework. I was in the musical "Guys and Dolls", and it was __**so much fun!!!**__ I made really, really good friends there and the cast party after the sixth and final performance was so emotional and sad! I am still depressed and missing them all terribly. Grg, all my best friends don't go to my actual school!!_

_Another reason the late posting; finals are coming up, aaack! I get to exempt Latin, which is a major HALLELUJAH moment for me—I had no idea I had improved my grades enough to pass it. That's what's so annoying about my school; at most schools, to exempt a final, your year average in that class needs to be above an 85. At my lamo school, it's a 95. What's up with that??? Anyways, I'm _trying _to exempt Biology, since that's another hard and evil final. I'm literally a fourth of a point away from exempted (94.25—another .25 and my teacher is allowed to round up. How annoying is that??)_

_Anyways, I'm rambling. Hope you all enjoy this chapter, and please keep up your wonderful reviews!_

**Chapter Six**

Ryan bit his lip with nervousness. Here he was, standing right outside her house, and he couldn't muster up enough courage to even ring her doorbell. Lilly was safe in her bed, and Tabitha was only a wall away. His neighbor was ready 24/7 if one depressed sound came from the apartment, and she most likely knew where he was. It was not his baby girl that worried him. It was the other girl sleeping in the house before him that made his knees knock.

Maybe he could do a Troy and call her…but when he dug through his cargo pant pockets he seemed to have left his cell phone at home. Perhaps it was time to do things the old-fashioned way.

After a bit of inspection, Ryan found what he was looking for. A little preparation, a good swing, and the pebble hit her window dead on. But it took five more pebbles for her to come to her window. He waved her to open her window.

"Ryan!" she gasped in surprise, tugging on a light jacket over her pajamas. "What are you doing here so late?"

"I wanted to talk to you in person, Kelsi," he whispered loudly. "Can you come on down?"

"…I don't know if my parents would let me," she responded after a minute of thought. "Here; I'll climb down through my window"

The only flaw to this marvelous plan was the fact that Kelsi was terrified of heights. Halfway down the side of her house she got stuck and refused to move.

"Just let go; I'll catch you!" Ryan assured her, his arms outstretched.

"Are you sure about this?" Kelsi called shakily, trembling from head to toe.

"Trust me!" Kelsi glanced unsurely over at him. She didn't move. "You don't trust me, do you." It was a statement, not a question. She looked away, embarrassed, from him and somehow managed to climb the rest of the way unassisted. "Come on, Kels; we need to talk"

Hand in hand, they strolled together in silence until they reached the neighborhood park.

"I was going to just call you with the answer. But my conscience told me to do otherwise…what I'm saying is it all come down to this—" Ryan paused. Till then he had talking mostly to Kelsi's hands entwined in his, but now he looked her directly into her soft, sea blue eyes. The moonlight shone on her pale skin, and without her long-gone glasses Kelsi Neilson looked heavenly in the silvery glow.

"I love you more than any other girl in the entire world, and I refuse to ruin our relationship over old memories from the past. I am completely, always, and forever yours, and yours alone." Kelsi took a shuddery breath; tears flooding her eyes. She suddenly noticed by the choking sound coming from Ryan that the words had not be easy in coming from his mouth; but they were utterly heartfelt and honest.

It was one of the rare moments in Kelsi's life were she knew **exactly** what to do at exactly the right time. She pulled Ryan to her with her eyes. It struck his suddenly how much emotion could be portrayed in a single look; all of Ryan's heart was in his eyes. Such was the power of look in his gaze at her that Kelsi's own eyes brimmed over, and she kissed him gently on the lips.

"I love you more than any problem that might ever come up. I don't care about what the future might hold; as long as you love me, I don't need anything else"

Their eyes never leaving each other's faces, Ryan and Kelsi sat down together on a park bench. Kelsi rested her head against Ryan's shoulder, and it was as if puzzle pieces had at last been fitted together. His arm clicked into place around her place, and with a tender hand Ryan stroked her head, his lips against her ear. When Kelsi closed her, relishing in the safest place in the world, Ryan almost felt as if the moon had gone behind a cloud. If her eyes didn't open, the world would be flung into darkness. Ryan also closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of her hair. Watermelon and vanilla.

"Ryan?" she suddenly whispered gently.

"Hmm?" he mumbled, his face still buried in his hair.

"How can you know you love me more than Gabriella until tested?"

This new problem pricked Ryan directly between his eyes. "We'll just have to see, I suppose." He kissed his on her head, and felt her relax once again. They would find out when the time came. As long as he imprinted this memory eternally in his memory, he should have no trouble anymore.

They stayed in his position so long that Ryan could feel Kelsi's breathing slow down and saw her chest rise and fall in a gentle, repeating pattern. He let the mood of the enchanting night and the feeling of Kelsi's hand in his pull him into the welcome blanket of real sleep.

---

The opportunity for Ryan to prove himself came sooner than he thought it would. His cell phone went off right next to his ear but two mornings later. He had had a very late, seeing as how he and Kelsi had had a night on the town until early morning the previous night.

Blearily unraveling himself from the covers, Ryan rubbed the sleep out of his clear eyes and grabbed his alarm clock. 4:35 a.m. Yawning, he accidentally knocked his phone off the bedside table before answering it.

"'lo?" he said, stifling another yawn.

"Ryan, it's Sharpay. I just wanted to let you know that a bunch of old friends from East High are having a small part at Chad's condo tonight; his parents are letting his use it for a week"

"And you had to call me at 4:35 in the morning for this??" Ryan groaned, dropping back onto his pillow.

"I just thought you'd like to know ahead of time. Remember—are you writing this down?—8 o'clock, 7391 Fire Oak Lane. See you there!" Ryan hung up the phone and turned over on his back.

"Girls," he murmured before he went straight back to sleep.

An hour and a half before the party officially, Tabitha and Lillian delegated themselves head of Ryan's clothing department for the night. Together, they picked out a dark pair of ripped jeans, a gray shirt reading "Rebel Yell", a not-too-formal black jacket, and agreed that gelled hair would look best for the situation (**A/E: muahaha, did anybody catch the joke here? Probably only us LG freaks :)**). Ryan still did not one to go to the event at all because of the possibility of seeing a certain mother there, but his desire to catch up with old pals overcame his uneasiness and he had been convinced into going after all.

When Ryan reached the condo, the rap music almost burned a hole in his eardrums. He had become so accustomed to living the quiet life of a kindergarten music teacher that he had almost forgotten what it was like to behave like a regular college student. As soon as he stepped inside he was enveloped by a huge poof of hair.

"RYAN!" Chad bellowed at the top of his lungs, pounding his old classmate on the back. Kelsi stood awkwardly behind him, hoping she would not receive the same rough greeting.

"Hey Chad," Ryan said weakly, his knees buckling beneath him. Danforth had acquired much more muscular, burly birth to him since high school—his tall form took up most of the doorway. A pretty Asian girl Ryan didn't recognize bounced up next to Chad and threw her arms around him. (**A/E: did you catch this joke too?**)

"Who are you friends?" she giggled, blinking at Ryan with wide brown eyes.

"This is Ryan Evans and—oh sorry, didn't see you back there—Kelsi Neilson. Ryan, Kelsi; this is Angela"

"Nice you meet…you…" Kelsi began, but Chad and what she hoped was his new girlfriend began to passionately kiss each other.

"Besides new faces and taller people, it almost feels like high school," Ryan whispered in Kelsi's ear. She squeezed his hand and nodded.

21-year-old Ryan stood firmly on his feet, an empty glass clasped tightly in his hand. He was now really wishing he had not come at all; he had really only come because Kelsi and Lillian had wanted him to. He had one glass of the only thing he trusted—tap water. He didn't drink _anything anyone_ gave him.

The music pounded into his head, and he was highly disgusted by the activities on the dance floor. Ryan amused himself by chatting with the few people not intoxicated people he knew, and stayed by Kelsi almost always.

Kelsi was pulled away by a gaggle of old music buddies who constantly pestered her who the unfamiliar hot guy with was with her. She wouldn't tell.

Thinking Ryan now single, many girls (and a few guys) bluntly made moves on him, and one particularly persistent Puerto Rican girl managed to slip her hands into his jeans.

When it got to this point, Ryan bolted away in a direct line to a spare room to escape the scary place (he had to go through three to find an _unoccupied_ place). He flopped onto the comfy comforter on the bed, exhaling in the relief of being free.

"Hey there." Ryan almost jumped out of his skin. He had had no idea that Gabriella Montez had been invited to this party. He hadn't even spat a word out when he lost all personal space he had ever owned. She was all over him once again; her hot mouth slammed against his own, her hands running over his entire body while slipping out of her tube top.

Caught of guard for the second time, Ryan opened his mouth to the tongue pressing for an entrance. But unlike four years ago, a picture unexpectedly popped into his mind. Blue eyes gazing into his, a innocent kiss, a gentle brush of a smooth, soft hand…Ryan bolted upright, firmly detaching Gabbi from himself.

"Baby," she whispered with a velvet voice, running her hands slowly up his leg, painfully arousing him. "What are you so upset about?"

"This. I can't do this"

"Yes you can; we've done it before…we love each other, remember?"

"Do we?" he asked harshly. "Did we ever? Do we really? Because I know in my book, this is a one-way relationship. I am in love with someone else"

She snorted with disbelief. "Oh really? With whom, may I ask?"

"Kelsi," the teacher answered simply and walked determinedly out of the room, not looking behind him.

When he emerged, he looked across the throng to discover a pair of shining eyes meeting his own. He smiled with victory.

Ryan had passed the test.

---

Ryan Evans hummed to himself as he walked away from Kelsi's home. He had walked home with her; they had had a lot to talk about. But now he need to be going home and checking on little Lilly; if she had inherited anything from him, she didn't sleep very soundly.

Not a block away, a startling smell tickled his nose. It brought back memories of visiting his great aunt Martha, who always reeked of black coffee and her long cigars. Cigars…smoke…Ryan tore down the road faster than he had known he could sprint.

The blonde stared at the scene in front of him with unbelieving eyes. Half of the Neilson home was engulfed in flame. Not thinking about it for a second more, he kicked the door open and ran inside. Mr. and Mrs. Neilson, being on the bottom floor, were already running towards the door. Kelsi, however, was stuck on the second floor; the staircase was on fire.

"Kelsi; jump!" Ryan called up, running closer to the wall. "I'll catch you!"

She shook her head violently, shaking from head to toe. "I can't!"

"Trust me!" Kelsi gazed down at him, struck by the significance of his words. At last, she nodded, squeezed her eyes tight and jumped over the railing. She fell safely into Ryan's sturdy arms. He carried her out onto the lawn and had set her gently down when a fire truck pulled up. By now the night sky was black and red with the smoke of the burning house, and concerned neighbors were out on their own lawns.

"My songs!" Kelsi squeaked, her hand flying to her mouth. "I forgot my compositions!"

Ryan looked worriedly from Kelsi to the house to Kelsi, and back to the house.

Kelsi read his thoughts. "Ry—don't; it's too dangerous!" But she was too late. Ryan sprinted across the grass and back into the blazing building, ignoring the shouts of firemen's warnings.

His eyes immediately stung from the wave of heat that flooded over him. Blinking back his watering eyes, Ryan ran resolutely into the flaming living room. Snatching the yet untouched sheet music off the piano, he was about to run back when a large plank came smashing down on his left hand (the floor boards from the room above were eroding). Stars danced across the father's eyes and he cried out from the searing pain. Again he turned to leave but found the doorway framed with orange and red flames. He bit his lip and accidentally inhaled a lungful of smoke. Coughing uncontrollably, Ryan staggered towards the window. More and more boards began hazardously falling, until one came crashing down on the back of his head. Ryan fell unconscious to the floor.

Kelsi twisted her hands nervously. "Why isn't he coming out? It wasn't all that hard to find!" Another 15 seconds, and still no Ryan. "He wasn't supposed to go get it in the first place! I was just thinking out loud!"

"Would you like me and my men to go and get him out, miss?" the fire chief asked respectfully.

_Go and get him out…no, Ryan was strong enough to come out on his own!_ Wordlessly, Kelsi nodded. Two and a half nerve-racking, hair-pulling, bleeding lip, white knuckled minutes later the fireman returned, cradling the limp form of Ryan's body in his arms.

"One of the boards collided with his head; he's just knocked out." Kelsi gingerly touched the back of his head for herself. She felt a large welt developing there, and when she pulled away her hand there was blood on her finger tips. Tears slipped unnoticed from her eyes.

"Please be alright," she whispered hoarsely. A stack of papers clutched securely in his hands drew her attention. Unfolding the corners, she identified the objects as her sheet music. A month ago she would have been relieved to see them safe and sound, but now she could not have cared less about the bars of song. Her main focus was the pale, single father in the fireman's arms opening his beautiful eyes once again.

_I hadn't planned on the fire or park scene happening; they just popped into my head once I reached this section. This story continuously surprises me, haha. Is it surprising __**you**__? So, what do you think __**should**__ and __**will**__ happen next? __**Too cheesy? What could I use more of? **__I always need advice, of course, and LOTS of it, haha. Thank you all so much for your reviews! I love every single one of your comments (especially the longer ones, teehee. I love long reviews). Thanks again for all the support you've shown me!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Yet again, sorry for delay in posting! But school's out for me now, so you can expect more constant updates.**  
**_

_**crushie- **the second joke is really lame, actually, and has nothing to do with Lucas. it's just that the girl Corbin sang "Deal With It" to in the video is Asian and...never mind, i am so odd, haha. And i'm a sucker for romance scenes too :)_

_**MackeyPac**- __like I would honestly get rid of Ryan? No, no; he's not going to die in this story. That'd be a really lame way to end it_

_**Tt2dancer**- yes yes; poor them. i seem to love to make their lives suck. Is that bad? But don't get too stressed; it gets worse :)_

_**HorsesRmyFriends**- eep, again, sorry for delay! ill try harder now that school's over_

_**dreamer 3097**- yay!!!!! -parties- sorry, i love compliments_

_**Ann-** yah, i really do have to knock him out, haha, sorry. Yet again; i have this weird thing of hurting main characters. As for how the house caught fire...CRAP, i forgot to add that to this chapter. oops. maybe the next one  
_

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

The next few weeks were a sleepless time for the Neilsons, Evans, and Tabitha. Ryan came back to consciousness easily enough, but not back to his normal healthy self. He had a burning fever and coughed continually from inhaling so much smoke. Late, late in the night (Kelsi's watch), the fever would rise to the point where he would begin to talk in his slumber. Most of the time he would spew complete and utter nonsense, but every now and again Kelsi would catch a few key words. It was at these times she would sit on the bed and hold his clammy hand and place a comforting, cool hand on his tossing forehead. Eventually he would quiet down, and Kelsi would return to her seat in the chair next to his bed. Ryan never remembered his feverish dreams in the morning, and Kelsi never breathed a word of it to a soul. Whatever he thought about at 3 o'clock in the morning remained stowed away in Kelsi's thoughts.

When he was awake, Ryan didn't open his mouth except to cough. His eyes never seemed to fully open, and he wouldn't eat a scrap. Lilly knew something was wrong with her daddy, because Tabitha wouldn't let her curl up with him at night anymore. But every day at exactly 3:30, when Ryan was awake and most himself, she was allowed playtime with him. She later told Kelsi that she had "gotten a little scared seeing her daddy looking so weak." Kelsi assured her that her father would be feeling much better soon. Inside her own mind, things weren't so simple.

Almost a week after the fire, Ryan was having another feverish dream. As always, Kelsi sat on the bed and put her right hand in his and a loving hand on his forehead—only this time he woke up. Tears flowed down his face and his body shook uncontrollably in a way that scared Kelsi almost as badly as seeing him being born away from a flaming house.

"Shh, baby, it's okay; I'm right here," Kelsi soothed, not knowing what nightmare he must have awoken from. She ran her fingers through his short golden hair—something she had longed to do for the longest time. She stroked his trembling hand with her thumb and kissed his damp forehead. At last, gazing into her eyes, gasping shuddery breaths, Ryan stopped quaking fell back into his fitful and shallow sleep.

It was then that Kelsi realized just how badly she wanted to be a part of Ryan Evan's life. He **needed **her as much as she **needed** him. Kelsi saw so many places where a mother's touch was badly lacking. The precariously stacked cardboard boxes in the corner, juice boxes toppling out of the trashcan, dust seeping out of every niche, and plates piled into hazardous skyscrapers in the sink. She was just itching to recycle the boxes, replace the trash bag, dust the whole apartment from ceiling to carpet, and place the dishes in the dishwasher. All she wanted was to be a part of the little family's life.

It seemed she wasn't the only one affected by the fire. The Evan parents actually drove over to see how their baby boy was doing; finally accepting the fact that there Ryan had a 5-year-old girl. The Neilson parents were staying with friends at a house nearby, but Kelsi insisted that she would stay with Ryan.

The musician combed Ryan's snoozing head with her thin fingers, curling the feather-soft locks around her forefinger. Her eyes fell on his left hand which she had bandaged the night of the fire. The board from her house had broken his wrist, but he was not well enough to go down to the doctors' and acquire a splint. The other board left a large tender welt on the back of Ryan's head, making him susceptible to lightheadedness. But at least he was still alright.

After a week and a half of being bedridden, Ryan awoke to find no one in his room; Tabitha was watching her soaps in the other room with Kelsi.

He felt nasty all over; sticky, hot, but yet he kept shivering. It occurred to him how pleasant a glass of ice water would be. Easing his aching body to his feet, goose bumps ran all over his skinny arms and legs the moment his bare foot touched the wood flooring. Ryan continued his glacial progress towards the kitchen.

"RYAN!" Kelsi's outcry made his head hammer. Ryan clutched the counter, trying to steady himself against his spinning head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that so loud!" He hacked a cough in response. "But why are you out of bed?? You should have just called for me or Tabitha and we would have gotten it for you!" _I miss walking on my own two feet, and it didn't seem such a bad idea at the time. _Kelsi steered the wobbly Ryan over to the table. She put the back of her hand to his sweaty forehead. He was still very feverish. Ryan looked sleepily up at her, his face expressionless and his mind too sluggish to form any more connected thoughts.

"You want some water?" He nodded. After the water, Tabitha decided that it might be more comfortable for Ryan if he changed his clothes. While Kelsi made dinner for the four of them, Tabitha helped her neighbor out of his now germy pajamas and into new and far softer and warmer p.j. pants along with a loose, but still form-fitting white t-shirt. When Kelsi came in bearing the chicken soup, she couldn't help but notice how skinny Ryan had become yet again. If he turned sideways, she was afraid he would disappear completely.

"Come, eat the soup; it's good for you!" He firmly shook his head.

"I don like that stuff," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. Kelsi and Tabitha were strongly reminded of a sleepy toddler.

"Feeling any better?" Tabitha asked gently, motioning to Kelsi that the possibility of Ryan eating anything he didn't want to was bleak.

"A lil'"

"You sleepy?"

"Kinda"

"Why don't you have some ramen noodles and go flop in front of the TV?" He nodded and walked slowly over to the living room. Lillian bounced out of her room as if there were springs on her feet.

"**DADDY**!! You're awake!" Wincing from her loud voice, Ryan managed a smile and scooped up the giggling girl in his arms.

"Hey pumpkin. You wanna watch TV with Dad?" he whispered tenderly, if hoarsely.

"Sure!!" Kelsi winked at Tabitha as the pair cuddled in front of the television set with a bowl of chicken ramen.

"I have to go run some errands," Tabitha informed Kelsi quietly, grabbing her purse. "Can you look after both of them until I get back?" Kelsi nodded. "I'll be back in three hours"

Not ten minutes later, Lilly waddled back into the kitchen bearing.

"Why did you come back so soon?"

"After just three big bites of the noodles, Daddy rested his head against the pillow and went right back to sleep! I finished eating the noodles 'fore I brought back the bowl." When Kelsi poked her head over the couch, sure enough, with arms wrapped around the pillow beneath his head, Ryan was seemingly asleep. But, yet again, he surprised her by opening his eyes right before she about to look away, and grabbed her hand. She looked concernedly down at him, but was relieved to see a happy, innocent smile playing across his handsome features.

Kelsi took the thermometer resting on the counter and Ryan wedge it between his tongue and the bottom of his mouth. When she pulled it out, the device read 103 degrees. Kelsi bit her lip. That was a _high_ fever for a man of 21.

"You go back to sleep," she instructed him gently, pushing him on back onto his back on the couch. "You need it, Mr. Evans." Kelsi leaned down, intending to give him a small peck on the lips. Ryan leaned upward, however, and captured her lips with his, making it deeper and longer than Kelsi had planned it. She was startled by how hot his lips were (the fever affected everything), but forgot even that small fact when Ryan opened his mouth mischievously. She seized up the dare with relish.

"EWW, DADDY!" Ryan moaned; clutching his head as it ricocheted of his spinal cord. Kelsi massaged it with her fingers and raised an eyebrow at the disgusted girl.

"What's the problem, Lilly?"

"Could you find a room or something? I don't wanna see that mushy stuff," Lilly responded sassily, putting her small hands cockily on her hips while wrinkling her petite nose.

"Aren't you supposed to be taking a nap? Kelsi lowered her mouth onto Ryan's waiting one. "And you don't have to watch," she added teasingly.

"YUCK!" Lilly ran back into her room. Giggling, Kelsi forced herself to stand up.

"You are _also_ supposed to be taking a nap, you naughty boy," she scolded him lightly, trying hard to conceal a smile went he sent her his most sincere puppy face. "Touch luck, Charlie." Kelsi didn't have to wait long; two minutes later and Ryan deeply sleeping, his mouth hanging slightly agape.

Kelsi amused herself with looking through Ryan's music collection for half an hour. She read for the second half hour. When her watch showed it had been one and a half hours, she decided it would be alright to leave Lilly and Ryan alone for fifteen minutes while she went to the lobby to rent a movie.

Ryan's lead heavy eyelids popped open. _Why had he woken up?_ The phone rang shrilly again. _Oh, that's why._ Using every protesting muscle in his body, Ryan hoisted himself off the couch and picked up the house phone on its final ring.

"'lo?" he yawned.

"Hello; is this Mr. Ryan William Evans speaking?"

"Yah"

"I am the Montez's lawyer, Mr. Jassek. I am calling to inform you that Ms. Gabriella Montez applying for full custody of your daughter, Mr. Lillian Gabriella Evans." Ryan opened his mouth, but only a strangled sound came out of his throat. His eyes stared fixedly ahead of him, the phone still shoved against his ear.

* * *

_muahahaha, i live for surprises. didnt see that one coming, didya? **R&R please!!!!!**_


	8. Chapter 8

_Sorry I took so long to post!! The one problem with getting so many different ideas with stories is that it's hard to concentrate one just one. I didn't know what I was going to do exactly for this part of the story, but I've at last gotten past my writers block, and I hope you all enjoy it!!_

**Chapter Eight**

Kelsi closed the door with her foot, and pecked Lilly on the cheek. "Hey munchkin. Is your daddy awake?" Lillian nodded, but bit her lip nervously. "But what's the matter, honey?"

"He's not talking to me!" she whimpered, tears flowing down her chubby cheeks. "I've tried to talk to him, but he just keeps staring at the wall in front of him! I wish he was still asleep!" Kelsi wrapped the distressed little girl in her arms and balanced her against her hip and walked into the kitchen.

Face in hands, elbows resting on table, hair on end and unkempt, eyes staring unseeing in front of him, Ryan Evans was a wreck. Kelsi set Lilly down and walked timidly touched Ryan's bony shoulder. "Ry?" It was as if she did not exist. After two more tries, he at last turned to face her, but his eyes did not see her even then. They stared through her and onto something else; something beyond horrible. "Ryan, what is it?" He still did not answer. She took his face in her hands and made him look into her eyes. "Ryan…tell me what's the matter." He shuddered and closed his eyes, but Kelsi forced him to look back.

"They're trying to take her away from me," he choked, tears seeping from his red-rimmed eyes. "They're trying to take her away from me!"

"Take _who _away, Ryan?" Kelsi asked gently.

"M-my _baby girl_," Ryan whispered slowly, as if every syllable caused him pain. "My _baby girl_"

"Lilly?" Kelsi gasped. "Who's trying to take her away?"

"G-gabriella," he sighed, hiding his face in his hands again. "She filing for full custody"

"On what grounds?!" Kelsi protested. "You're taking perfectly good care of Lillian!"

"It's because she doesn't have a 'mother-like figure' in her life, which is a 'necessity for a growing girl', and _Ms. Montez's_ lawyer put it." Ryan groaned. "I thought having a loving father was enough…Gabriella doesn't even **know** Lilly! She gave our baby up because of college, for Christ's sake!" Kelsi bit her lip as no words of comfort entered her mind.

"Daddy?" Ryan lifted his head and looked down at his adorable daughter who had reentered the room. "Are you alright?"

"I am now," he laughed and opened his arms. Giggling happily, Lillian ran over and leaped into her father's embrace. Tears squeezed out of Kelsi's eyes when she saw how tightly Ryan clung to his daughter, his trembling hand stroking her blonde braids. Kissing her head, Ryan whispered lovingly, "I love you, sweetheart"

"I know. I love you too, Daddy." Ryan hugged Lilly like he would never let go. Lilly yawned snuggled against his shoulder.

"You didn't finish you naptime, did you, Captain Lilly?" Lilly shook her head sleepily. "Tell you what; your Daddy didn't get to finish his naptime either. Why don't we go take our naps together?" The gap between her two front teeth showed again, and Lilly bobbed a nod. Kelsi almost protested that Ryan still had a fever, but held her tongue.

Ryan climbed into his bed and Lilly launched herself next to him. Kelsi pulled the blanket over both of them as Ryan wrapped one arm around Lilly, who buried her tiny face into his chest yet again. Kelsi turned to leave, but Ryan grabbed her hand.

"Kels…you have to help me. I can't do this by myself." There was a wild look in his eyes. "Please help me…please"

The desperation in his voice made Kelsi's eyes burn. "I will"

"Promise it!"

"I promise—with all my heart." Ryan relaxed, but wrapped his fingers around her hand.

"Don't leave," he mumbled as sleep began to take its toll, his eyes barely staying open. "Stay here." Kelsi let her boyfriend tug her back to the bedside, and she sat down by the headboard. She ran a hand through his hair, and a gentle moan of pleasure escaped him. She smiled.

Tabitha knocked softly on the door as she let herself in (she had acquired keys to his apartment many moons ago). "Anybody home? Ryan? Lilly? Kelsi?" Tabitha dumped the groceries she had picked up onto the counter. After a bit of searching she looked into the bedroom. A wide grin overcame her face at the sight before her.

Kelsi was propped up against the headboard, her brown curls falling prettily over her face; contrasting with the maple wood. One hand was in Ryan's golden hair—the other clasping his bandaged left hand. Ryan's head was in her lap, and his right arm was wrapped around petite Lilly, who was curled up against his side. All three were covered in the sheets and sound asleep.

"This is more like it," Tabitha murmured before backing out of the room on tiptoe. This was one scene that had taken enough time happening to not be ruined.

* * *

Tabitha and Kelsi slipped into the second row of the humming courtroom. It had been about three months since Mr. Jassek had informed Ryan about Gabriella's choice, and it was at last the day of the trial. Ryan sat a bench in the front hand in hand with Lilly; him in a pressed black suit, her in a pressed black dress. With such blonde hair, it made the both of them look ten times paler.

At last the doors to the room were closed and all rose as the judge entered the room. Ryan looked as if he might get sick right then and there. Gabriella looked victorious, winning, and deadly in her navy blue, evening-length dress next to her lawyer. Kelsi inwardly praised God Almighty that the Evan parents were so well-off. it had not been a tearless experience when they had called Ryan to let him know that they would hire and pay all expenses for a lawyer.

Kelsi thought it would be an open and shut case, but evidently not. Mr. Jassek played highly off the fact that Gabbi had not seen her daughter in four years, and that Lilly truly had no motherly influence in her life; 'a necessity for a growing girl', indeed.

"But she does have a father, does she not?" Mr. Richards, the Evan's lawyer, protested. "Is the matter how well she is cared after by her father? I see in Lillian's records that she has come to no harm in her father's care, and has never had a problem socially or in any other category"

"You will admit, however, that she has no woman in her life. Can we honestly trust a college-aged _boy_ to take as adequate care of her as a loving mother?"

Lilly, Gabriella, Ryan, and Mrs. Hart (Lilly's main teacher) were all called to the stand. Kelsi's heart felt like it had been punctured as she saw tiny Lilly seated primly on the witness stand, answering all questions thrown at her with innocent, but scared, eyes. And her heart took another beating seeing Mr. Jassek bear down and take every word Ryan said and twist it around for his own purposes.

"So let's forget about Gabriella's personal feelings about the matter for awhile," Mr. Richards proposed. "Let's all agree that the only thing at stake here is Lillian's well being. Are we agreed on that?" Mr. Jassek and the judge nodded. "Are we agreed that no harm has come to Lillian in her father's care—as far as we know?" They nodded their agreement again. "Technically, if at Mr. Evan's home she had an adequate mother figure, would he be allowed to keep full custody of Lillian if Gabriella was allowed visiting rights?"

The judge motioned to the Montez's lawyer that he was allowed to respond. "This is all just pure imagining," Mr. Jassek said after some careful thought, "but I supposed this is true"

"FIVE MONTHS!" Mr. Richards suddenly bellowed, startling everyone out of their wits.

"I beg your pardon?" the judge questioned him, slightly annoyed and bewildered.

"I ask the jury to give Mr. Evans five months to find a mother-like figure for Lillian!" Ryan's jaw dropped, and Gabriella's eyes bulged. No one had expected this.

"Permission granted." Down rang the gavel. "This court is adjourned until the date of—" but nobody heard the rest of what he said. The audience was abuzz with talk; Gabriella arguing with her lawyer, Ryan talking anxiously with his own. Halfway out of the courtroom, Kelsi caught up with Ryan and Lillian. While her father was engaged in conversation, Lilly slipped out of his hand and peeked around people until she found the person she was looking for.

"Mommy!" Lilly called loudly, making heads all around her turn, including the family she had just left. Gabriella turned around and broke out in a smile. She would have greeted her back, but the words caught in her throat. The golden hair, short stature, familiar cheekbones, eyes identical to her own…there was so much of her in this little person.

"Lilly," she at last managed to get out, her voice cracking. "Baby!" Lilly smiled toothily and hugged her mother around the waist for the first time in four years. Gabbi pulled her off the ground in a big hug. Had she really given up this _angel_ for dumb college?

_What am I thinking, college isn't dumb_, Gabriella countered herself. _It's very important to my career, and if it means having to send my daughter off to daycare everyday, I'm willing to do it_.

"Lillian, baby, let go," she ordered, and her daughter immediately let go, surprised by the sudden harshness of her voice. "I have to go now, alright? I'll see you later—when maybe you can see me all the time, 'k?"

"But what about Daddy?" she asked abruptly, startling Gabriella. "When would I get to see Daddy?"

"Well…about once every three weeks?" Gabbi suggested, trying to rack her brain to remember visiting rights.

"Then no"

"No what, baby?"

"I wanna stay with Daddy!" Lilly sniffled.

"Lilly!" Her head perked up. "Come on, Captain; it's time to go home." The spunky girl bounced over to her father and grabbed his and Kelsi's hands. Grinning a goodbye, she swung in between the two happily—all three laughing. Gabriella's eyes narrowed.

* * *

Sharpay ran her finger around the edge of her soda can worriedly, and with her other hand drummed her chewed nails against the table. Her twin brother was very late for their meeting, and she hoped he would not carry on the tradition.

At last Ryan arrived at Jason's Deli, in ripped jeans and a baggy gray t-shirt, and seated himself. The bags under his eyes were more noticeable then ever.

"Hey Ry," she said softly, standing up to give him a hug. He embraced her tenderly, and they both sat back down. "You hungry for a sandwich or something?"

"No thanks." He ran an exhausted hand through his messy hair. "Shar, help me! I have **no** idea what to do"

"How much longer do you have left until the trial picks up again?"

"Two weeks and I'm stressing! How the heck can I get a 'mother-like influence' in just three months??" Sharpay rolled her eyes despite the seriousness of the moment.

"Dear Lord, Ryan, don't you love Kelsi??"

"Well, err, that is…yes," he stuttered sheepishly, blushing to the roots.

"More than anything else in the world?"

"It's a close tie to how much I love Lilly…"

"I mean 'other-than-family-love', doofus"

"Oh…then yes," Ryan responded, turning redder than ever.

"**Then what's holding you back from asking Kelsi to marry you?**"

"WHAT?!" Seeing all the stares he was attracting, Ryan sat back down in the chair he had just popped out of. "_Marry_ her? But…but…"

"Can you think of a good reason not to?"

"Yes…no…but you can't just jump into marriage! We're just college students!"

"Jesus, Ryan, I know tons of people who get married in college! It's perfectly normal, and you aren't getting any younger. It's legal and you two love each other"

"But…but…_marriage_…I wouldn't know what to say!"

"'Marry me' might be good"

"I know that, but I don't have a ring…I don't have the _money_ for a ring. And what would Lilly say? She's not used to having a mother!"

"She loves Kelsi too," Sharpay grinned, leaning back in her chair. "And knowing Lilly, I'm sure she will be fine with it"

"Could I at least at her about it?"

"Hey, don't ask me; it's _your _kid"

He glared at his twin. "**Thanks**." She beamed at him.

"No problem"

"But what if Kelsi says no and then our friendship gets all awkward?! I couldn't live with that…to be turned down _twice_…"

"Just ask Lilly and then come on over to Mom and Dad's," Sharpay ordered him in a knowing voice. "I think they have the perfect solution to the ring problem…"

* * *

_Just a random little tidbit about this story:: it's actually based off of what's happening in my mom's best friend's life right now—only it's the __dad__ applying for full custody, and nothing about the whole "mother-like influence" issue with the potential husband/wife. It's been a very traumatic experience, and the trial coming up soon! Wish her luck, because my mom's friend totally loves her daughter and would rather __die__ then send her off to an uncaring dad._

_I've discovered thing I love to do in this story—have a lot of repeating scenes…I dunno, for me, it just makes everything way more in perspective to compare things by having them be so similar, you know what I mean? Ah well, please __**R&R! **__Thank you all sooo much for your support!!!_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Thank you so much for the reviews,**__** risingstar9328, Ann, HorsesRmyFriends, and dreamer 3097, and everyone else who has commented! It completely makes my day :)**_

**Chapter Nine**

Ryan set down squealing Lilly deep on top of her covers and kissed her on her forehead. The Evans parents had long returned home, and the Neilson's home had been easily repaired from the gas oven fire.

"Surrender?"

"Never!" she giggled.

"Alright, you asked for it!" Ryan continued the tickle fight until both of them were once again breathless and fell back onto the bed.

"Tuck up, Captain," Ryan commanded lovingly, stroking his daughter's head. "It's bedtime for Bonzo"

"My name's Lilly, Daddy; not Bonzo!" Lilly insisted.

"Are you sure? I could have sworn it was Bonzo," Ryan said, putting on an air of deep confusion. "You look much more like a Bonzo"

"No, I look like a Lillian!" she yelled, beaming up at him. "You're so silly, Daddy!"

"_I'm _silly?" he gasped with mock horror. "What does that make you?"

"A cute goofball!" she giggled again, kissing him on the nose.

"You got me there." More giggles, and Lilly wiggled inside her sheets. After a bedtime song, Ryan became very serious.

"Lilly, I have a big question to ask you"

"Shoot away," she said, quoting Tabitha.

"What would you think…of having a mother?"

"You mean, leave you to go live with Mommy? No way!"

"No sweetie, I mean having a **new** mom. A mom to live with us here"

"You're getting married?" she gasped excitedly.

"It depends on what you think, Captain. If you don't want me to, I won't." Lilly crawled out of her covers and sat down in her father's lap, facing outwards. Ryan gladly welcomed her, wrapping his arms protectively around her. Lilly leaned back against his chest, and took on a look of deep concentration.

"I've always wanted a mommy of my own…but there's only one mommy I want living here"

"I see," Ryan sighed, nodding his head in understanding.

"So go and marry Ms. Kelsi!!" Ryan's head shot up in surprise, and he gaped at his precious baby girl.

"How did you know-"

"It's a girl thing, Daddy," Lilly responded in a very knowing voice, grinning toothily up at him. "I know you love her, and she would the bestest mommy"

"That she would," Ryan croaked, his voice cracking as tears slid down his face. "The _bestest _mommy a five-year-old could ask for. So you're okay with it?"

"Go get married!" Lilly crowed, arms flailing as she flew out of her father's arms. "Do I get to be the flower girl at the wedding?" And then she noticed him resting the bridge of his nose in the tips of his fingers, tears coursing down his cheeks. "Daddy, what's wrong? Why are you sad?"

"I'm not sad, Princess," he laughed gently, looking her in the eyes, smiling from ear to ear. "I just can't believe this is happening. We're so blessed, Lilly"

Lilly wrapped her arms around her father tightly and kissed him full on the mouth, smiling sweetly.

"Cheer up, Daddy. You got to go make love to Ms. Kelsi!"

He chuckled and gave her an Eskimo kiss (a rubbing of the noses). "That's right; time to go make love to Kelsi"

The next day, Ryan received a slightly bulky package in the mail. The return address showed that it was from his parents. He ripped it open, and out fell two things; a small case and a note. The note read,

Just a little something from your family to make your night more magical

Best wishes and much love,

The Evans

Opening the box, Ryan gasped aloud and closed his eyes.

"Thank you, Mom and Dad," he whispered, clicking the case shut. "Thank you for everything"

Kelsi was greatly satisfied with the evening. She and Ryan had gone on a romantic night out, including a fancy restaurant and moonlit boat ride. They were now relaxing back at her deserted house; her parents were out for their wedding anniversary. She snuggled against Ryan's shoulders as they watched "Pride and Prejudice". Suddenly, he muted the volume and turned to her.

"What's the matter, Ry?" she asked gently, smiling at him.

Ryan took a deep breath. "Kelsi…I love you. I love you far more then silly words can express…if I knew the whole dictionary by heart I still wouldn't be able to describe the way I feel about you. We reunited only a few months ago, and I feel like I've known for forty years. The hours I've spent with you have been the best hours of my entire life. You treat everyone with respect and are one of the sweetest human being on this earth—most likely **the **sweetest. You are a downright amazing person is the best way I can manage to put it, Kelsi, and you have stolen my heart. I guess there really is only one word to describe this…love"

Kelsi's heat fluttered when Ryan slowly slid off the couch and knelt down on one knee…he was beginning to fiddle with something in his pocket, and the entire scene became blurry for Kelsi because she became to sob with happiness…

_Haha, man how much I love doing romance scenes! A bit of this was taken from my own parent's proposal; only my dad didn't get down onto one knee, lol, that lamo. Sorry that this chapter was so short, but there was really no need to make it long. As Ryan says, "__there really is only one word to describe this…love." And really, love can be put into only so many words. I feel that dramatic scenes such as this—such big moments in their lives—are best left untold, for I tried to type the emotion of how it is to be proposed to, it would sound insanely false. If I was in fact married and had buckets of children I probably still wouldn't be able to write it down. And by the way, I wrote all this at—no exaggeration—1:30 in the morning, so sorry if there are any major mistakes I worked on _Runaway_ at 12:40, haha. __**But stick around; there are more chapters to come! Don't stop the reviews, please, even if the story is drawing to a close! **__(I myself am surprised that both _Runaway _and this story are so short! I don't know what my problem is, haha. At least this one had a good run. _Eastside Story _still has a long way to go though; don't worry ___


	10. Chapter 10

_thanks for all of the reviews, dreamer 3097, Ann, HorsesRmyFriends, crushie, and musicfreak1107 :) i love reviews!!! GASPETH, ITS THE LAST CHAPTER!!!! Hope you all like it :)_

**Chapter Ten**

Gabriella smiled happily to herself as she sat down in her designated seat in the courtroom. By listening to Mr. Evans chatting to his wife, she had confirmed her suspicion that Ryan was not married. There was no possible way she could lose this case. Now was her chance to get back at that jerk for trying to ruin her career!

She was surprised at Ryan's face when his "clan" entered the room. It was strangely calm and self-assured. But he had no reason to feel such confidence, as there was no room to lose for her.

As soon as the renewed trial was started up, Mr. Jassek called Ryan up to the witness stand.

"Tell me, Mr. Evans, are you or are you not married at this very time?"

"I am not," Ryan answered, and Gabriella smiled victoriously. She had won.

"So there is not a mother-like influence in Lillian's life right now, or no guarantee of one?"

"No sir; I believe there is a certain guarantee of a mother for Lillian." Gabbi bolted up to strict attention in my seat. _What?_

Mr. Jassek thought the same, but kept his composure. "How can we be sure that there is a one hundred percent assuredness that Lillian will have a mother-like figure in her life in the near future?"

"If I may?" Ryan asked permission from the judge, who granted it. Ryan walked over to the table he was sitting at, picked up an envelope, and handed it to the judge. "I am currently engaged," the entire courtroom began to buzz with excitement, "to Ms. Kelsi Samantha Neilson"

Gabbi's jaw dropped as the judge considered the papers. There was no way this could be happening…she had the case in the bag, didn't she? She looked to her lawyer for support, but he gave none.

"The papers are legal," the judge said, a smile creeping over his face. "I sentence that Mr. Ryan Evans keeps full custody of Lillian Gabriella Evans. Court it adjourned.

The noise from the defensive table was deafening. Kelsi threw her arms around Ryan and pecked him on the cheek while Ryan balanced the cheering Lilly on his opposite hip. The lawyer was shaking hands with a glowing Ryan, and Tabitha was standing nearby them all, beaming at everyone.

Gabriella slowly stood up and began to walk out of the room quietly with her lawyer, still stunned. Ryan separated himself from the rest of the group, Lilly still in his arms, and ran over to meet her. They stared at each other in the doorway for a minute.

"Well…" Ryan sighed at last, smiling at her.

"Well," Gabbi agreed, allowing herself to smile. "You deserve it, Ryan. You really do, and I wish you—and Kelsi—the best of luck"

"You still are allowed visiting rights, you know," Ryan said quickly. "And you can have a 'girls' day' with Lilly once or twice every month; if that's okay with you, Captain"

Lilly gazed hard at her mother for a moment, and Ryan put her down on her feet. Gabriella squatted down next to her, and gently took her tiny hand.

"I apologize for not caring more about you from the start," she said seriously to her daughter. "I heard a wise person once say that we always make up with the people we love." She smiled up at Ryan, and he smiled gently back. "Friends?"

"Friends," Lilly agreed, shaking her hand and giggling.

"Friends?" Gabbi asked Ryan, standing up and extending her hand. Ryan chuckled.

"Friends." Propping Lilly up on his hip, he gave Gabbi a side hug and hurried back to his waiting fiancé, who kissed him deeply on the lips before pecking Lilly on the forehead.

Gabriella smiled at the scene she might have at one time been a part of. But she was happy for Ryan, and that was what really mattered. He deserved Kelsi, full custody, and the fun life ahead of him. She had made her own choice, and would get the consequences. She would still have a daughter, but not do her injustice by keeping her all to herself and not paying her enough attention. This was the way things were supposed to be. Laughing, Gabriella Montez walked happily out of the buzzing courtroom; glad to be alive.

Kelsi and Ryan were married on May 21st the next year, with Tabitha was the , Gabriella one of the , and Lilly got exactly what she wanted to be; the flower girl. The two lovers were married in a small chapel outside of Albuquerque and were showered with pink, red, and yellow rose petals as the ran out of the sanctuary, enormous smiles covering their faces. But before the newlyweds climbed inside their waiting limo, they posed with Lilly outside of the petal-covered chapel.

"Gabriella," Kelsi said suddenly, looking angel-like in her flowing white dress. "You need to be in this too; you're one of the family"

And so, with Kelsi and Ryan wrapping one arm around each other, Lillian standing in front of them, and Gabriella kneeling next to her, the laughing, small family smiled for the camera.

Later, the camera man could be heard telling Tabitha, "Wow; isn't this just the _very picture_ of love?"

**The End**

_Well, it's finally over –sobs- It seems like I've been working on this one for forever, and it was such fun writing!!!! I'm such a sucker for sappy, happy, cheerful endings (and I didn't expect this chapter to be quite so short; sorry!) I know you are wondering why I went out of my way to make Gabriella such a jerk and then make her all nice. Well, Gabbi still doesn't want kids, but she still loves Ryan and Lilly. So I decided to make her all nice and satisfied with her life. _

_**So what did you guys think about the whole story? Thank EVERYONE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO stinking much for all of the reviews, they always make my day!!!! Keep an eye out for my other stories **__****__** Love you all!**_


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